you don't have to kiss him to taste me
by Mimi Good
Summary: Bonnie has loved Elena her entire life and has watched her relationships with boys closely hoping that she would never settle down. Her worst fear is confirmed when Elena actually is serious about this particular guy. Elena doesn't know why Bonnie is so negative towards him. She naively plans something that will bring them altogether because of her misunderstanding. AU. Poly.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I've been taking a break from my other story and wanted to start this one. I've had this idea for my favorite TVD character(s) for a long time so, enjoy. Please read and review.**

Chapter 1: I Don't Like Him

Miami was hot and wet, so in relation so was Bonnie Bennett as she ran like hell out of her dance school after a lengthy lecture from her mentor. She wasn't rude but she was the first student to leave after hearing the woman's dismissal. The class had to stay an extra 5 minutes because of someone in the front row had been slow on the steps. Though she loved dancing and extra practice, she would only find it helpful if she was struggling with the routine, which rarely happened for her.

The small woman was already late to her lunch date with her girls and she promised she wouldn't be late this time. Since her class's late ending, she had missed the 3 o'clock bus which meant she had to wait another half an hour. She sighed, wiping off sweat from her forehead and pulled out her phone to send a quick text to her friend's group chat.

 _Really Bonnie? You couldn't get here any faster? Well, gee whiz, Caroline at least I let you all know._

 _Caroline, calm down. Don't worry, Bonnie, we'll order your food when you say you're 15 minutes away._ **Read 3:28.**

Finally, the bus had arrived and she was able to send a text saying that she was 15 minutes away. She didn't even have to tell Elena what to order, she just knew what Bonnie liked and made her feel content. Bonnie's content state was disrupted quickly as she experienced how bumpy and slow the bus ride was. Then she groaned in annoyance to herself, cursing the driver and the weather and every other factor that was making a simple lunch date a gateway to hell.

Bonnie had really missed her cute little Jeep but it was in the shop because of an overheated engine. Thanks again, Miami. Maybe she could have gotten there on time even if her class went a little overtime. The three of them barely hung out anymore with Bonnie's pursuing dancing full time, Caroline switching her major every time she got a new boyfriend, and Elena had just gotten the job as a registered nurse. Time was not her friend in the slightest.

"Hi," Bonnie greeted, out of breath from running from the bus stop and took her seat across from her two best friends. Elena offered a warm smile and placed her hand over Bonnie's telling her she was just glad she was here. Caroline wasn't so forgiving and had her arms securely crossed.

"Caroline, are you really going to ice me out here?"

"Hell yes! You were supposed to get your car fixed weeks ago even before the semester started, I offered-"

Bonnie held her hand out, "I don't need your money. Besides, I just checked my account on the bus and there are exactly two hundred and 93 dollars and 47 cents." The blonde glared at her friend, she did not like the fact that Bonnie thought barely surviving was okay. Sighing and throwing her hands up in semi-defeat, "Okay maybe I can talk Jamie down a couple dollars."

"Talk?" Elena asked incredulously. "You mean to flirt, Miss Bonnie Bennett and you know it."

"No," Bonnie insisted, "Talk as in negotiation, he knows me and my family there's a platonic history between us, it shouldn't be that hard."

"Please, Bonnie that man is fine. Talk my ass, just imagine him underneath your car all muscle-y and oily," Caroline said, rubbing her shoulders suggestively.

"Caroline, her engine is broken that's the top of the car."

"I know, but in the movies, the hot guy is never over your car, he's always underneath it. Am I wrong?" She countered.

Elena and Bonnie stared at each other in confusion trying to find an argument to Caroline's oddly true statement. Deciding she had a point, the two shrugged and in the next instant their food had arrived. Bonnie's nose marveled at the steam coming from her potato skillet. She smiled at Elena and beamed, "You know me so well."

The brunette waved her hand off at Bonnie playfully. "That's the food talking for you, you're probably starving from class and that sprint you did here." Bonnie did just that and then Elena and Caroline followed suit by digging into their food as well. They all caught up with their day to day lives and jobs. What really stood out was them bringing up Caroline's studies which were now studying a weird language called Aramaic because her new boyfriend spoke it. Elena and Bonnie just couldn't help their boy-crazy friend and just opted for laughing while she struggled to curse them out in said language.

"So, you guys I need a huge favor next Saturday if you're free." Bonnie and Caroline nodded, knowing that they had a week to plan their schedule. They'd make it work for Elena, no doubt.

"Okay, I have to tour the hospital for these kids. I'm new so I guess they want to stick the trivial stuff on me."

"Oh, God, are they sick?" Caroline asked seriously. She may have had to bring her mask to be precarious.

"No, Caroline, of course not-"

Elena's phone started buzzing and she mouthed that she would be right back as she answered it. Bonnie sat with her hands in her lap, staring outside at her friend on the phone who seemed to be enjoying her conversation. It had been a talent of hers being able to observe Elena for all those years and pick up her body language. Whether she was sad, amused, or in discomfort, Bonnie would know and be there for Elena.

But right now she radiated happiness and Bonnie couldn't quite decipher who was the source of that and why it was driving her insane. Caroline leaned over, spooking Bonnie unknowingly, and informed the short woman that was Elena's boyfriend more than likely. Boyfriend? She was talking to some guy but I didn't think that it was that serious. Bonnie frowned, Elena had some explaining to do before convincing her to go to some freezing hospital as an activity on her Saturday.

When Elena came back her smile faltered when she saw her best friends serious faces.

"What's going on you guys?"

"Boyfriend, Elena really? You said this wasn't the time for long-term relationships and you didn't even tell me!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"Woah, do I have to narrate every living detail of my life to you?"

Bonnie laughed, and half-seriously said, "Yes, boyfriends are not to be kept to yourself."

"Well," Elena announced standing up dramatically, "I have a boyfriend and I really like him a lot and the sex is great if anyone, and by anyone I mean Caroline was wondering."

Elena bowed and sat back down while Bonnie and Caroline slowly clapped in response to her bold statement. The 3 of them laughed and talked about various other things. Bonnie still wasn't happy about it, but if Elena was happy she could put her own discomfort to the side and be a good friend.

* * *

If the outside of the hospital wasn't so damn hot, Bonnie would have run out with the quickness to embrace the air. There was nothing to do but huff and puff, she was there already. Elena was immune to the anti-warm environment and almost walked around the place freely. This was really her niche and Bonnie loved seeing her pursuing something that made her so happy. Caroline seemed to be unfazed by the everlasting breeze the building brought and that was just unrealistic for her high maintenance ass.

"How are you functioning in this place?" Bonnie asked the blonde while shivering. Caroline smirked and took off her large sunglasses. She waved around her soda bottle and whispered, "I may have some Jack in here." Bonnie tried to grab it from her and they began to do a petty brawl for the dark beverage. Elena rolled her eyes and intervened by taking the bottle and throwing it away. Bringing alcohol beverages in her place of work wasn't acceptable in any circumstance. No one else had cheat codes to navigating Antarctica's cousin, you just became accustomed to it over time.

Bonnie and Caroline let their immaturity get the best of them and had been distant towards each other during most of, if not all of the tour. All that walking made their little legs tired so they walked to the hospital's food court. Elena finally got a breather after 2 and a half hours, she pulled out her phone checking her notifications, it would be him. She smirked to herself and held her phone close to her chest.

"You're swooning," Bonnie commented blatantly.

"And what about it?" Elena asked, putting her phone back in her pocket.

"This isn't like you. I feel like I'm being catapulted back to high school where you went batshit crazy over Matt."

"Really Bonnie? This is nothing like that. I told you, both of you, about his busy schedule and how we talk whenever."

"Well, you're bending over backward for a guy! This is your time you should be unavailable just like he is."

Elena ran her fingers through her in pure frustration and yelled, "You don't even know him!"

"Okay, well I don't have to know him because I don't like him!"

Caroline's eyes went back and forth while she watched the two argue. That was the final blow, it seemed as the whole room went quiet. Even Bonnie looked down feeling as she did go too far in a hospital nonetheless. Elena just looked shocked and hurt, not believing or knowing why Bonnie reacted the way she did. In the midst of the silence, one of the children walked over to their table.

"Miss Elena, can we continue the tour now?" A young girl sweetly asked, feeling that she interrupted something.

Elena sniffled with a weak smile, "We sure can come on kids. Lunch break's over, my apologies I lost track of time." They all got up, with Bonnie trailing behind because she couldn't face Elena after what she said to her. Her best friend didn't like her boyfriend and those people were way too important in her life for there to be discrepancies between the two. While Bonnie had slugged behind the group. Elena held head high, she a made a promise to herself she was going to fix this. Her boyfriend and best-friend just couldn't be at odds.

* * *

Bonnie yawned as she walked in her home and was greeted by the smell of warm cooking. That was enough to brighten up the tumultuous day she just had. She plopped down on the couch and turned around to see her grandmother cooking. It was 6 pm, so it seemed like just about the time for her to start dinner. Grams was no one's late cook, the latest she wanted her house eating dinner was 8:30.

"Yams?" Bonnie was able to determine the smell by just letting her nose examine what was being cooked in the pot. She crinkled it in disgust, that dish only meant one thing. Grams smiled and responded, "Yes, child. Yams along with cornbread, collard greens and this iced tea to wash it down with. It's hot out there."

"Abby must be here," Bonnie stated, blankly.

Grams didn't say anything, she didn't want to call or text Bonnie while she was out and alert her to upset her in front of friends. That would only bring questions surrounding her only daughter's absence. Also, the relationship between Bonnie and Abby was severely strained and she knew one dinner wasn't going to fix that. She found a happy medium for the dinner, Abby liked yams and Bonnie liked cornbread, especially if it had butter sloped all over it. Her food could bring peace, she hoped.

"Well, she's coming to visit tonight, so yes I did want to make her favorite dish and that's your mother, please be respectful."

Bonnie sighed and said that she knew but that didn't make her frustration with the woman any less valid. Grams didn't reply directly and opted to hum to her self as she cut up onions to throw in her pot for flavor. Bonnie turned around from facing their spacious kitchen to put it on some show, it's not like anything was good on a Saturday. When Abby arrived, it was 7:59 pm. 31 minutes, early, _Well at least she's trying this time._ Bonnie thought.

She came in offering her hugs to the two women in the house. Her hug with Grams lasted longer, while Bonnie had to stand there with her arms crossed just watching their embrace. She wished she had the forgiveness her grandmother had with her mother, and she was really trying but Abby had always burned her in the end. The three Bennett women sat down at the small dining table. Grams only brought the much larger one if they had extra company, like on a Thanksgiving or Easter.

"Ma, yams? Those are my favorite!"

Grams just smiled and nodded, happy that her daughter was delighted. Bonnie was slightly annoyed, it's like Abby wanted everyone in the damn neighborhood to know that she was eating cooked yams. In a sense she gloating and Bonnie could have gone there right at her level and mentioned that she also had her cornbread on there too at the courtesy of Grams.

"Bonnie, sweetheart did you get your car fixed?" Abby asked, remembering that she saw a red Jeep in their driveway. The youngest Bennett nodded and confirmed that it was. "Jamie fixed it for just about half, we had to wait for his dad to leave so he can charge the discount," Bonnie added. Grams and Abby looked at each other sharing an all-knowing smile. Bonnie asked what was going on, she didn't like their wordless side conversations.

"Nothing," Abby said, putting her fork down, "It's just that we think that boy likes you and you're just sort of not obvious to it."

"You mean I'm oblivious to his feelings?"

"Yes," Abby fixed her choice of words, "You're very oblivious. But hey at least your car's fixed, I probably would have done way worse and got it done for free."

Grams gasped, wishing she never heard that. "Abby."

"What, mama? It's true but that's in the past now." She looked at Bonnie, deciding to talk about something else, "You smell like a hospital, did somebody have an emergency here?"

"No," Bonnie said firmly, wishing she'd taken a shower when she got home. "I helped Elena tour kids who visited the hospital today. Caroline was there too."

"Ew," Abby commented, "Imagine spending your Saturday at a cold ass hospital, y'all are really true friends."

"Just because you flake on people at every difficult time or when what they're doing doesn't go with your agenda." Bonnie shot back, the comment was unnecessary but she really couldn't let her mother say what she wanted. The tension had been bubbling since the moment that woman stepped in the door. Oh, Lord, my dinner is already gone to hell. Grams thought. She knew she had to step in before the remarks got any worse.

"Enough, you two," The older woman ordered. That didn't stop Bonnie and Abby's intense staredown. Grams sighed in semi-relief when she heard silence and the common sounds of chewing. If that's what it took to stop Chaos in her house then so be it. She stood up staking their empty plates, she would set the dishes in the sink but between the two of Bonnie and Abby had to finish the job.

Bonnie propped her elbows on the table and huffed, "Me and Elena got in a fight today."

"Oh, child why? Y'all have been friends since grade school." Grams mentioned.

"I know, but we fought because of her new boyfriend. Seems like she more interested in making time for him than with us."

Grams said, trying to offer her granddaughter some kind words, "Well, she has someone to call her own now. She's getting older maybe she does want to settle down. I hope you didn't bring up that empty-headed boy Matt Donovan."

Bonnie face-palmed, knowing that she did foolishly bring him up. "I did," she muttered. Abby pursed her lips, just observing her daughter's actions. It didn't take a Ph.D. to sense her daughter's unscathed jealousy. Elena was spending time with someone else who wasn't Bonnie and it had been driving her crazy. Abby could see it all over her face, but her daughter was no easy read she did guard her envy with her strong wellness.

"I see," Abby spoke up.

"Well, what do you see?" Bonnie asked leaning forward to shoot daggers with her eyes at her mother.

"You've always liked that girl in that way and she just doesn't swing that way," Abby sipped from her tea and said in a low voice, "Even after all these years."

"What the hell does that mean? She's my friend, and I'm worried about her mom, something you don't know how to do - worry about your loved ones."

"Oh, please, I've known since your little 'coming out' moment that you liked that girl."

Grams slammed her hand down on the table, making the two flip their heads to her. "I did not make this nice dinner for you two to snap at each other and bring disrespect to my home," She roared. Abby got up slowly, she wasn't leaving no. That would only prove her daughter right, she just walked towards the sink to wash the dishes. Bonnie said her sorry to Grams and walked outside on the patio.

She was hyperventilating while she leaned on the brick wall next to the double glass doors. Abby just made her that mad at times. Out of all things she could praise her for she picked on her for her unrequited love on her best friend. It took courage for Bonnie to come out as bisexual to her family and while Grams seemed to love her just the same, her birth mother scowled and didn't quite view her as the same. It was like she thought Bonnie was some reject, her own flesh, and blood.

Bonnie's phone began to ring so she straightened up and swallowed before even looking at the caller ID. She raised her eyebrow seeing Elena's name and number and she smiled when she saw the icon she chose for Elena. It was a picture she took of her at a music festival they went to earlier in the year, they had a competition on who could make the funniest faces on camera. It was a silly picture that Bonnie could have deleted but she kept it because the memory was so warm and happy to her.

"Hey, I know I haven't been spending time with you as much and I just wanted to fix that while keeping my relationship. Both you and Stefan are important to me."

 _Stefan? That's his name, huh._

"I'm listening, what's your plan, there can't be two of you."

"I know, which is why I'm arranging a dinner you two need to meet, you don't even know him and that can be fixed if you got to know him. He's a great guy and he makes me really happy, like more happy I've been in a long time."

"Well..."

"Please, Bonnie in a perfect world you two would absolutely adore each other, at least in my perfect world.

"Fine, I'll meet lover boy for you, but you don't know how to cook so I hope you're ordering takeout."

"Okay great! The dinner is Monday by the way, I have that day off and then Friday. And they love giving me weekends so there's that. Anyways, love ya, I and can't wait till Monday."

Bonnie hung up first and threw her head back, annoyed. She was going to have to be someone's third wheel in 48 hours.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Dude, You Can't Cook

Bonnie brushed her usually curly chestnut hair in her grandmother's gold and red vanity. Grams was in the basement doing laundry so she took the opportunity to use her mirror. Growing up, she always loved the room and its apple candy scent from her grandmother's incessant need to keep candles in the room and even slept in her grandmother's bed whenever she had bad dreams about Abby. Bonnie stood up to check out her outfit - a plaid skirt and a white button up that was long-sleeved.

For the occasion, she did straighten her hair, but in Miami's weather, it would never stay. She grabbed her purse and began to walk out the door. However, it wouldn't be a smooth walkout because Abby was right there. She was in the kitchen drinking coffee which was typically unusual for that time of the day. In a way, Bonnie was glad there was nothing alcoholic in her mother's cup.

"Still going to that dinner? Acting like you that girl's parent or something." Abby muttered that last sentence.

"Yes, Abby I am. Yet you're " Bonnie gritted with her hand right on the front door's handle.

"You're just fixing yourself to get your feelings hurt. You just want to witness how in love and happy they are."

Bonnie responded by not really responding, she slammed the door so hard it made Abby jump. Sometimes, she didn't how to use her words against her mother but she couldn't use violence either. Slamming the door was just her preferred happy medium. Bonnie's air conditioning was broken, so she rode with her windows down to Elena's house, praying that the humidity wouldn't frizz up her just flat-ironed hair.

* * *

She gave Elena's door three knocks before being invited in. She was welcomed with a smile and a warm oven. Elena had on a pink apron in the kitchen and she did a small spin showing her mini-chef get up. Bonnie couldn't help but smile, she was so cute. She was told to take a seat but she ended up going near the stove to see if Elena cooked any of that food.

"Well, thank you, God, for Fresh Market because lord knows you would have burned this building down."

"I did make something," Elena said lightly patting off her apron and opened her oven to show a yellow mix in a glass bowl. It was supposed to be cornbread according to Elena, but it had been in the oven well over 20 minutes and it hadn't hardened yet. It was from the box and she managed to mismatch the steps.

"Oh, I am sorry, Bonnie I didn't turn the oven up, it's only at 240. I was just trying to keep everything else warm, not actually overcook it."

Bonnie just didn't know how Elena could mess up something so simple, she herself wasn't the best cook but most of it was just common sense. Maybe the brunette should stick to medicine and caring for the sick because the kitchen was not her forte. It took a quick fix but all Bonnie directed her to do is move all the store bought food to the top of the oven and turned the temperature to 350 so that the cornbread could bake quickly.

It was around 7 o'clock and Bonnie was already sweating, and she wasn't even hosting. However, in Elena's case, she was moving a mile minute, cleaning off the surfaces with sanitizer. She went into the front room even to sit the pillows straight. Bonnie was on her phone in the meantime, she was going to be a stress-free guest from here on out. Her friend could keep her mini anxious spazzes about the dinner to herself.

Bonnie later found out through Elena's ranting that the man in question was running late. Bonnie didn't have anything nice to say about that information but she didn't. The two were now sitting on the couch talking, well Bonnie dragged Elena to the couch in a half-successful attempt to make her relax and ease the anxiety away.

"Maybe I should go check on your cornbread-" She was stopped by Bonnie's hands resting on her shoulder.

"No, you sit, okay. I'll bring you a glass of water too, you look parched." Elena nodded and smiled. Oh, my thoughtful Bonnie.

Bonnie got up from the beige couch and walked a short distance to the kitchen. They didn't put a timer on the cornbread, so she just assumed it was done since A) the house wasn't on fire and B) it was well in the oven for over 20 minutes. She was careful of course, oven mitt gloves were on her hands as she took the glass dish out and placed it safely on the counter. Then, she went to fix that cold glass of water she promised Elena.

She did hear noises in the kitchen so she decided to go check it out, she didn't want Elena to stress out anymore over a dinner. If Stefan never showed up, it could just be the two of them and she was fine with that because that always was the case with her and Elena. When Bonnie came around the corner, she wished that she had waited a couple of minutes before seeing what it was.

 _They_. _Are_. _Kissing_. It wasn't a full on make-out session eventually to sex type of kiss, it was sort of an "I missed you so much, so glad you're here" kiss. Bonnie didn't care how sweet it was she wished that there was no mouth on mouth action directly in front of her. Even though she did walk in on the two unexpected.

She breathed in and out, bracing herself. This was Elena's home and she was an adult who had a partner. Partners show each other affection, that wasn't and shouldn't be some complex equation hard to solve - it made perfect sense. Bonnie cleared her throat making herself visible to the couple, who was now breaking out of their liplock. He was holding flowers and a bottle of wine. Elena took the wine from him and set it on the dining table.

While she was gone, Stefan took the opportunity to introduce himself to Bonnie. She reluctantly returned his pleasantries, she didn't understand why he was still holding the flowers. There were exactly 12 of them enclosed in the clear packaging. Bonnie remembered that from focusing on the flowers instead of his tongue in Elena's mouth to settle her rage.

"These are for you. I just figured it was proper etiquette." He said, smoothly.

Bonnie slowly held her hand out, taking the flowers. Her hand accidentally brushed his but it was a silly imperfection, something she could forget and push in the back of her mind. She eyed his appearance momentarily. He was suave but humble which were two conflicting vibes he was giving off. Bonnie couldn't figure him out and the flowers which were bright pink snapdragons definitely weren't platonic nor were they openly romantic. They represented something different; like a blossoming and unlikely relationship. That was it, she hoped.

 _Elena sure does have good taste...atleast this one time._

"Thank you." It was short and in a high voice.

"You're welcome." It was framed as if there would be more times to thank him.

The two walked to the dinner table where Elena quickly was setting the plates in a troubled hurry. Obviously, the dinner wasn't ready yet so Bonnie announced she was going to find a vase for her flowers. Elena probably didn't even hear her because Stefan came to her aid.

"Elena, please sit down and relax. It's just a dinner."

She followed suit because it was best for her to sit down. Her heart rate was up and she knew as a nurse she would instruct a patient or a member of a patient's family to just reflect and take a few breaths. Stefan put his hands on her shoulders, slightly massaging them. It was a friendly dinner, they didn't want to get too crazy in the kitchen. She closed her eyes just imagining his hands as comfort and release, it made her feel less anxious.

"I know, it's just that you two are so important to me. I can't mess this up because I can't cook."

Stefan bent forward to plant a kiss on her neck. "You won't and you haven't. Just focus your attention on the now."

Elena laughed, "Your lips on my skin? No, that might be actually worse than stressing over a small dinner."

"Touche," Stefan replied backing away, with his hands up playfully.

"Please, you're so dramatic."

"Me, dramatic? With your "I can't breathe if you're touching my skin" monologue. I don't know, I definitely think you take the cake for that one." Oh, he had jokes.

Elena tried stifling an incoming laugh with her hand, and it ended up turning up into giggles. Stefan shook his head smiling walking around the table to find a seat farthest away from her.

"Are you serious?" Elena asked, half serious.

"Yes, you can't control yourself around me, you said it yourself. You're a dirty girl, Miss Gilbert."

Before Elena could respond easily, Bonnie came practically tumbling in with pans of food. The poor girl was only a staggering 5 feet with minimal body strength. Elena didn't seem like she was leaving her seat, so Bonnie took the initiative and got the food herself. Only if she predicted the weight of it before doing so. Stefan went to her side. grabbing most if not all of the pans.

She thanked him once they were seated and of course, she got a 'you're welcome' back. Again. Elena smiled, seeing the two interact was enough to keep her happy. She really hoped she wasn't being a lazy hostess by letting them self-serve. There seemed to be no problem with it, their light chewing proved to be the case for that.

"So, Stefan, what do you do?" Bonnie just wanted to break the ice.

"I'm an engineer, I love it, it's just that my office is 45 minutes out the city and they request me so much."

"In other words, you're a workaholic but you want to keep your social life."

"I wouldn't say workaholic necessarily but my social life was never much to begin with but it totally just went down the toilet when I joined the profession."

Elena spoke up, "We actually met through Katherine-"

"I know, Elena, you told me this already." Bonnie gritted, almost viciously. She could say the text message from 3 months verbatim of her saying that she was going on a date with Katherine's 'hot friend.' One date wasn't supposed to turn into a season-long relationship. Bonnie wouldn't be here in the first place if they didn't connect so much on that first date.

Stefan laughed, attempting to ease the tension. "It's not that special of a story for you to be retelling so frequently."

Elena frowned and ate whatever was left on her plate. Ever since Stefan walked through the door, her friend had been distant and cold towards her. She didn't like it one bit and it did nothing but put her in a bad mood. When she wasn't actively there, it was like Bonnie was kinder to Stefan. She'd hope the formula would work again when she told the party of two that she would be going to her room to go rest.

While Stefan never questioned her about her decision to be alone, Bonnie did. She did it so smug, too. Her elbows were propped on the table and she had a slight smirk on her face.

"Because you're pissing me off." She wanted an answer and she got one while watching Elena's cute ass walk off down the hall, angrily at that.

Bonnie stood up, pushing her chair in, preparing to stack the plates.

"She'll get over it," Stefan stated, also standing up to help put the food up.

Bonnie shrugged nonchalantly, she knew Elena too well. "Oh, I know she will."

They walked into the kitchen doing their various jobs. Bonnie smiled as she saw her snapdragon still sitting pretty on the counter. She turned to face Stefan, who was in the refrigerator deciding what to put away where.

"Thank you again for the flowers, they're really gorgeous."

He smiled, slightly closing the refrigerator to see Bonnie on the other side. "No problem. I didn't think you'd like them to be honest. They're too bright and pink for my liking."

"Well, they're just right for mines."

Bonnie was right near the sink, placing the dishes in hot, soapy water. She knew if she came in contact with the water her hands would melt. She leaned her back against the sink counter just settling into her thoughts. She was shocked when she saw Stefan walking towards the sink area and leaning his back on the counter just like she was. Was he trying to start a conversation with her?

Bonnie looked down at the black flip flops that held her perfectly polished french-tip toes which were perfectly polished. Then she looked how close her and Stefan's feet were. Perhaps too close, like he was testing her space.

"If Elena never comes back out tonight, we never got to open that wine. I was looking forward to it."

"Let's leave for her. She's gonna need it for the next few days."

Then they just started talking about their work and passions. Stefan told her his job kept from important dates and he had distanced himself from his family and close friends at times because of the stress. He also expressed his worries of not being enough for Elena. Bonnie could see his character and how much he truly cared for her. She hated to admit but Stefan was good for Elena. Seeing them interact and hearing the way they talked about one another just sealed it for her.

"You're good for her," She said staring down at her feet. "It took me the whole night to realize that.."

Stefan looked at her shrunken state and responded, "You are too. Probably better. You two have a history that I can't compete with."

Bonnie looked up. "Well...yeah. That's the thing, I just don't how to move on without her if she wants to be with you."

That last part shouldn't have been said but Bonnie didn't give a damn anymore. if she could admit her best friend was falling in love with a great guy she could hint on how she felt about her. It wasn't a platonic defense against him, and he knew that now. Stefan held her hand. He didn't have to reach out far either. Bonnie's eyes trailed down his arms and then to their touching hands. Then, they traveled up to meet his smoldering gaze.

"Maybe you don't you have to."

He leaned down so his lips could meet hers in a slow, idiosyncratic kiss. Now that she was that close to him, Bonnie could recall exactly what his fragrance was. A swirl of amber and leather packaged in a gold box. She hesitated and closed her eyes shut when his face came in contact with hers. Kissing her best friend's boyfriend was beyond shitty but his lips felt so right on hers. Hell, the fact that he also kissed Elena earlier tonight made their liplock taste twenty times better.

Bonnie was in complete euphoria right now, it was a high that she was scared she wouldn't survive. So, when they parted, she felt dazed and unable to stand on solid ground. She leaned on the sink counter to steady herself and swallowed nervously. Bonnie never got nervous. Just in perfect timing, Elena had come back, announcing that she was no longer mad.

"Like I said," Stefan told her as he walked back to the dining table. "You're dramatic."

Elena smiled and pulled him into a hug, murmuring into his shirt, "Okay, maybe I am."

Bonnie put her hand in the soapy water, it was cold now. That meant it was time to go. Her face would show it all if she stepped in that room with Elena. When she said her quick goodbyes, Elena expressed her worries about her dear friend traveling so late at night. Even Stefan offered to take her home to which she declined swiftly. The couple in their loving embrace wished her a good night. All Bonnie could think about the entire ride home is how long it took the soapy water to go from hot to cool. Plus, her hair was a mess and it had nothing to do with the humidity.

* * *

The kissed gnawed at Bonnie for the next three days. She didn't have enough courage to call Elena over the phone. If she was going to come clean about her betrayal it would be in person. Friday was actually a great day to do it. By that day, Bonnie's week was essentially over from dealing with school and her mother seemed like she would be leaving Gram's house soon. That was the almost ultimate relief - Abby finally fucking leaving. After all these years, Bonnie didn't request much time from her anymore.

She couldn't even talk or rant to Elena about it because she felt so guilty about Monday night. So, Bonnie planned a meeting at her house. Unlike Elena's house, which was completely independent of her own affluent family, Bonnie's still held memories from when they were younger. Something about it made it easier to reveal what she'd done because of the things they'd done there. Various sleepover, dinners, and cookout had happened there and Elena was there to witness plenty of them.

"Grams, how do you tell your friend that you..did her dirty in your words I guess," Bonnie asked meekly.

"Why, child, what have you done?" There was a doorbell ring. Grams shot daggers with her eyes at Bonnie. Her granddaughter had been acting funny all week since that dinner and she didn't like it. She only asked once about it, promising herself she wouldn't get into young folks business. Maybe she should have because unannounced visits at her home made her more uneasy than most.

"It's only Elena," Bonnie reassured.

She opened the door to a courteous Elena. The brunette was clad in a pink v-neck ruffled short dress. It stopped right at the top of her knees. Bonnie and Elena shared them his and she was let in. Grams stood with her arms open and a welcoming smile. Elena practically sprinted into her arms; Grams was the closest thing to family.

"Mrs. Sheila, I missed you. You don't look a day over 60."

Grams laughed, "We all know that ain't true but I'll take the compliment. How's that's nursing."

"Good. Overworked but not quite underpaid, I love it. I had to rock this cranky newborn for about 30 minutes but once he went to sleep - finally, it was the most beautiful thing, Mrs. Sheila."

"Did it make you wanna have one of your own?" Bonnie's eye twitched at the mention of children.

"No," Elena laughed, "Definitely not yet. I haven't even been there six months and baby fever will not get the best of me."

"Well, love," Grams held her arms and wrapped up, "It was nice talking to you. Tell that Katherine I said hello and she still owes me for Lebron's bitch ass moving to L.A. I dn't know why that girl thought he was coming back here of all places."

Elena laughed as the older woman went upstairs to her room. Her sister knew next to nothing about sports. She put her hands on her sides, for the lack of pockets on her dress and looked at Bonnie.

"Pillow talk?"

"Pillow talk."

* * *

Elena and Bonnie sat criss-cross with two fluffy pillows between them in Bonnie's bedroom. It was way smaller than Gram's master bedroom, the one that they both adored. Bonnie placed her hands on top of the pillow. This had become a common meeting place for them when Elena swore Bonnie made feathers levitate. All she did was slam her hand down on it and then the feathers emerged. They both knew what, but that would suck the magic from that day as young girls.

"I can't keep this from you any longer," Bonnie breathed in and out, closing her eyes. "I kissed Stefan."

If Elena's eyes could get any bigger, they had now. She didn't miss Bonnie's decision to take ownership of the kiss. Bonnie opened her eyes again and before she could say anything, Elena steadied her shoulders.

"Bonnie, it's fine, you're fine and forgiven if that's what you wanna hear. You've always taken care of me and I love you for it."

Bonnie was confused; Elena should be crying and slapping her right now.

"Elena, what? I tell you I kissed your boyfriend and you're not even mad with me or him for that matter." Yes, she stalked Elena's social media and the nurse posted something about him as early as this morning. So, her being mad at Stefan was out the question at this point. Bonnie couldn't exactly prepare herself for her bestfriend's vague response.

"Do you remember what I told you?: What's mines is yours."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: His Lovin' (Gonna Get You, Girl)

 **A/N: I apologize wholeheartedly for the 'filler' aspect of the chapter. I'm glad you're asking for more. I think Sundays will be my update day. Also, the intro is quite suggestive/sexual so scroll past that if you want.**

* * *

 _Bonnie was in an undisclosed room, she wanted to believe it was hers but the moonlight said otherwise. Her room would have had candles that smelled like the great parts of the outdoors. She loved those candles her grandmother had scattered all over the house. However, they were so intimately placed, on the dresser near the mirror. She was happy though, she always wanted to take Elena on her bed but this would be more sufficient._

 _Elena apparently wanted to transition to lifelong friends to lovers within the course of one night. There was no particular reason why all Bonnie could feel was Elena's hands everywhere and her mouth was so glorious. She didn't know that Elena would put her entire tongue in her mouth and she loved it, every minute of it. Her Elena. So dirty and so needy. Bonnie grabbed a fistful of the girl's hair, slightly balling and unballing it one would steal this moment from her._

 _The two were on their sides caressing each other's legs as they kissed feverishly. Elena's hand was resting on Bonnie's ass, giving it a few squeezes here and there. The girl moaned in relation; Elena could nothing and have her hands still and she would be satisfied. Relishing at the fact that her best friend was into it, Bonnie decided to turn up the heat._

 _She flipped Elena over on her back with the agility and pliability it took to do so. It even alerted Elena so much that her brown orbs looked doe-eyed. Her Elena so dirty so needy and yet so innocent at once. Bonnie smiled and stroked her face assuring her everything was fine. Elena swallowed and nodded; there was no going back as the faint light from the night bounced off the couple._

 _Bonnie bent over, her knees sunken into the matress's coiled springs, preparing to kiss her beloved friend again. Elena couldn't keep her hands off Bonnie as she was under her, writhing in waiting of what was going to happen next. She closed her eyes. Bonnie thought it was sweet and kissed her on the lips, Then a few pecks along her cheek. She licked Elena's neck letting it leave a wet spot on that area and left it alone. The brunette would remember her tongue there and craved for it more. One lick wasn't enough._

 _Bonnie's palm trailed down Elena's middle and licked one of her thumbs and circled it around the writhing girl's bellybutton. Bonnie turned around; she heard someone clearing their throat. It sounded judgy enough._

 _"Okay," he said just not being able to watch the two fool around anymore. "You're not even doing it right."_

 _The curly haired female practically whipped her head around, she wanted him gone. Afire was burning in her head but it became explosive when he subsequently stepped into the light. Stefan. Elena called out his name worryingly, she started to sweat. Her eyes were still closed, she didn't want to face him but she wanted to be heard. He came over to her and stroked her face so lovingly._

 _"You're so beautiful even when caught red-handed," Stefan kissed her forehead. "I love you."_

 _Elena opened her eyes, feeling his admiring presence. "I love you, too."_

 _Bonnie was disgusted; her best dream just became her worst nightmare in a matter of moments. Stefan left Elena's side to get behind Bonnie._

 _"How long have you fantasized about sleeping with my girl?" He kissed Bonnie's shoulder, adoringly. She was tense, this had to be a ploy or something. A fucking joke that this was. He was in her ear. "Tasting her with your tongue..."_

 _"She was my friend before she started doodling hearts around your name, Stefan. It was just the two of us. And maybe Caroline, but you don't know her to know how intrusive she is."_

 _Bonnie had an epiphany. "She wasn't able to catch on to my feelings for Elena..but you did and you're making me-"_

 _"What?" He growled in her. Stefan's hands, his right, in particular, was undoing her black, lacy lingerie._

 _"Let me finish. You're making me confused...I don't like it. I've always been sure about my love for Elena but you're just this whirlwind of hushed passion."_

 _Elena was on the bed wiggling on the sheets with her eyes still closed. Taking initiative in her own hands, literally, she began to touch herself. She bit her lip as she threw her back her hair flowing perfectly like a movie stars. Elena sweated profusely while fingering herself and then rubbing her sensitive spot. Someone must have told her it was good to alternate while trying to orgasm at a quicker._

 _When she finally did come, she pulled her panties back up to her hips and breathed out, "You two talk too much."_

 _Bonnie was bewildered and Stefan looked somewhat proud._

 _"Did she just-"_

 _"That's our girl." Stefan interrupted, "So back to us. How am I making you confused?"_

 _Bonnie couldn't believe him. The only thing she'd be sharing with Stefan Salavtore was spit and even that had been a silly mistake. He was her best friend's boyfriend. He came on to her first. Now he's questioning her attraction to him when they both know what happened in that kitchen._

 _"You're acting coy for no reason. Elena's sleep."_

 _"Even if she wasn't I'd ask you about your feelings for me. We're honest about those kinds of things."_

 _"Honest? You kissed me for no fucking reason just to mess with my head."_

 _"It's the 21st century, kisses don't mean anything. In Europe that would be considered a very colorful hello."_

 _"God, you're so-UGH."_

 _"Confusing? I've been told."_

 _Bonnie gritted her teeth, "_ _ **Get out**_ _."_

* * *

Bonnie kept saying get out until her grandmother came into the room pouring a bucket of water on her and chanted some Latin nonsense.

"Grams, what the hell?" She shrieked in horror of the water sticking to her skin, she was cold and didn't like it.

The older woman pointed her finger in the girl's face. "First, watch your damn mouth. Second, I came in all of my old age to check on you."

"But water?" Bonnie exclaimed.

"Yes," Grams confirmed. "Our ancestors were rumored to be witches. I thought you were being called by them."

Bonnie groaned, rubbing her head. She's heard of the Bennett witches plenty of times before. She was convinced her grandmother had some type of memory loss. The girl just had a sexually weird dream and she wasn't in the mood to hear Gram's folklore. She just nodded and asked if Grams left her alone to reflect if the older witches invaded her brain. That put her grandmother's worry at will.

After, washing and using an electric fan to fix her rude water awakening, Bonnie got a call. It was from Caroline. The two hadn't talked since the hospital tour and even after that they just sent each other various good morning texts throughout the weeks. Classic Caroline telling Bonnie what was going on instead of asking her.

"Clubbing, tonight. We're going straight to South Beach."

Bonnie fake smiled and asked, "Who's all going?"

"Well," it was as if the blonde pulled out a paper and pen before answering. "Well, we're going to The Spot."

"The Spot?" _What a stupid name. Of course she would drag us here._

"Yes Bonnie," Caroline said through her teeth. "What's wrong with the name? Whatever just have a fresh outfit. Elena and I are picking you up tonight bitch. Also, Katherine might crash. Bye!"

The girl sighed and began scavenging in her closet for some nice club-wear. She wished Caroline had told her at least a week advance so she could do a couple gigs to rack up some coins. That was the key difference between her and friends, she loved them dearly but they were very Caucasian and privileged and had money. They all were very important differences and walks of life but the money aspect had always made Bonnie feel so small.

Elena stopped asking Bonnie if she needed help a long time ago but Caroline persisted. She'd appreciated it but growing up in an older black woman's house, she was taught that things could get done on her own. Especially with her absentee mother, Bonnie was used to handling it alone. No, it wasn't always healthy to do that but it built character and no one could ever break those bricks of foundation down.

A baby blue jean romper that she never wore was in the back of her closet. It would show off her freshly shaven and moisturized legs, well to the best of the night light's ability. Bonnie smiled to herself, knowing that was a great bodysuit to dance in tonight. She then became less apathetic to a girl's night out even if Elena's bitchy sister was going. That smile quickly faltered when her mother walked in the room.

Abby's approach wasn't overbearing or condescending like it was usually was. She just looked concerned. Almost motherly, but with all the disappointments she gave her actual mother with about parenting Bonnie proved otherwise. Anybody can perfect the look but not the traits. Abby didn't have a selfless bone in her body so her asking Bonnie what she was doing tonight caught the short woman off guard.

"No, hot date," Bonnie answered. "A fun, sweaty girl's night out."

"You and Elena?"

 _I wish_. Is what she wanted to say, but opted not to. It wasn't the time to be inappropriate and it wasn't called for more importantly. Despite her initial reaction of Abby stepping in her room unannounced the two had been very cordial throughout the week. She wouldn't mess that up over a simple question.

"No, Caroline too. Also, Katherine, she mentioned. It's just what I need to calm my nerves with school and..." She trailed off and quickly finished her sentence. "Just finding work and whatnot."

Abby nodded. "You have a talent, Bonnie and that should be showcased on the big stages - Broadway even."

The two shared a laugh. It was easygoing and it felt like progress. She couldn't give her mother too much because once when she was little, Abby did attend her concerts at school but she was never sober. There were even times where she had to be escorted out because of how loudly and drunkenly she cheered for Bonnie. She thought she sounded supportive but Bonnie was just embarrassed and tired of her mother and questions from her team about her home life.

* * *

Bonnie even tore up her graduation ticket in a crying rage designated for her mother because they had a big fight the week before. That didn't stop her from attending and interrupting the ceremony, once embarrassing Bonnie again. All Grams did was shake her head that day as her only daughter was ejected from the event. So, the laugh they shared, was needed and earned throughout the pain through the years.

She heard a loud beep as she applied mascara to her false lashes. Abby had actually helped glue them on, making her look less like Mrs. Potato-Head. She knew the beep was from Caroline if she had super hearing there was probably Elena scolding her over the horn telling the blonde to give Bonnie some time. It wasn't overly hot outside which was a great thing, she didn't want to be sticky before the club.

"Ugh, scoot over," Katherine groaned as Bonnie stepped in the car. Her purse had its own seat.

"Well, hello, Katherine."

"Hi Bonnie," she greeted nasally. Being stuck in a cramped Jeep with her sister's friends was not the ideal Saturday night. But Caroline came up with the idea last minute and the twin had nothing else better to do. Besides, this was her chance to remind the Miami scene that she was very single.

Elena turned around and smiled at Bonnie. The short girl offered a small wave, not giving her friend too much. Caroline looked at her rearview seeing Bonnie's outfit head to toe.

"Damn, girl you are snatched. Maybe waiting for you was worth it. You're trying to get freaky with someone tonight."

Lords know I need it. Me time isn't cutting it.

"No, not that. It just feels good to look good." They all could agree to that.

Once at a red light, Bonnie took a glance at her phone. She looked up from it when Caroline decided to open her mouth.

"Okay, so the guys are coming. Me and Elena tried to keep it from you two because we didn't know how you'd feel-"

"Because we're single," Katherine bitterly finished and looked at Bonnie who looked equally upset. She was bamboozled; a girls night resolutely anti-male. Caroline and Elena betrayed that for their boyfriends. She remained silent waiting for Elena's rationale.

"You guys, it's not like a date night nor will you be third wheeling. We're here to have fun, right?" Elena said optimistically.

"Yeah, but I don't have a penis, Elena," Katherine replied curtly.

"What does that even mean?"

"It means patriarchy will always win. This was supposed to be a girl's night; I was tricked."

"You're going to be flirting with potential hookups all night anyway!" Caroline piped up.

"True," Katherine examined her French manicure. "But I needed you two to encourage my inner thot."

"Oh, you were going to do that anyway," Bonnie stated, frankly.

Katherine made a 'hmph' noise while Caroline and Elena snickered in the front. Bonnie realized that she interacted with Katherine more than her twin. It had been a day of firsts she supposed. Katherine even gave Bonnie a hand as she stepped on to the pavement in her all white, red bottom heels.

"Nice," Katherine complimented. "Makes you less of a midget, I guess."

Compliments from Katherine were never really compliments. It was more of a 'be happy she isn't spewing venom at you' type of thing. Bonnie pursued her lips and hooked arms with the Gilbert twin. "You owe my grandmother a check." Katherine raised her eyebrows and looked rankled. "Damn it, Bonnie I left my purse in the car. Well, Grams is lucky, she'll enjoy drunk me writing that check later on."

The quartet walked a long distance to the club just to see the endless line. They were all in heels or platforms waiting for the line to get shorter.

"Who do I have to suck off to get to the front of the line?" Caroline threw her head back in annoyance. They all were alerted when they heard an English accent.

"Hopefully no one, love. I happen to know the owner, he owes me a favor or two. Just know we'll gain instant access in the club."

Caroline beamed and ran in his arms, hugging him and attacking his face with kisses. He looked half annoyed but he had a snirk on his face. Secretly, he enjoyed his girlfriend's affections. The social blonde then introduced him to girls as Nik, or just Klaus. That took a short time and it was a stark difference between Elena arranging an entire dinner so that Bonnie could meet her boyfriend. Klaus told them Stefan was finding a park and once he returned they'd walk in the club. Bonnie braced herself for an eventful night as her heels clacked past the threshold.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: TW: There is allusion to sexual assault/rape in this chapter.**

Chapter 4: His Place

They're all at the bar, drinking because they're of age and they can do that. Bonnie stays close to a certain twin and doesn't say much but observe the club's atmosphere. Katherine tries to wink at a potential suitor but ends up blinking rapidly resulting him to turn away.

"Must've been gay," she flimsily said. Admitting that she was overbearing and desperate was way harder to do, so lying to put a bandage on her ego was Katherine's motto. At this point, she'd done it for so long she didn't know if it helped or harmed her more. Caroline was ordering another fruity drink while Klaus is downing something a little bit stronger. He almost feels pity for her inability to drink anything more potent than a Limerita. He placed a hand on her shoulder, "Love, those drinks are a bit..underwhelming, don't you think? At least spend your money on something actually worth 25 dollars a shot."

She stumbled while trying to stand up, almost hovering her boyfriend in her heels. Klaus chuckled at her attempts to challenge him and even tried to sit her back down.

"No, no," the blonde pointed. "You need to realize I can do whatever the hell I want - and it's not my money I'm wasting, it's my dad's!"

Klaus smirked. Her father was an asshole, he was happy the old man was seeing the end of that bill. Without even asking she pulled him onto the dancefloor with the very intention to grind shamelessly. This just reinforced that inviting the boys was not a good idea. Katherine blew her breath, easily bored with her surroundings, she faced Bonnie who was looking at her phone.

"You're lonely, I don't know about desperate, but you are definitely are single." Katherine flipped her hair and whispered in Bonnie's ear. "I know you have an unrequited lesbian thing for my oh so pure twin, we can go in the bathroom for 15 minutes give or take and you can pretend she's me."

Bonnie deadpanned, "You just sound ridiculous," pushing the Gilbert sister away. Katherine shrugged, this wasn't a box of worms she was interested in opening tonight at least. She sauntered to the end of the bar to find more suitors. Bonnie groaned shaking her head in disgust. She got all cute and for what? For Caroline to be on dance on the floor drunkenly spinning around her exotic British beau, Katherine to insinuate a quickie in the bathroom, and Elena was apparently nowhere to be found.

Well, she went to go look for Stefan but the girl decided to push that little detail to the back of her brain. She said to herself whenever Elena came back, she wouldn't say a word to her. The nurse couldn't even go a solid 15 minutes without the presence of her boyfriend. Yes, her boyfriend who had his tongue in her best friend's mouth and she was okay with that. Bonnie just couldn't wrap her mind around that. Both of them. It was sick and weird to her.

Eventually, Elena came back, of course holding hands with her beloved Stefan, smiling. Their union broke up suddenly when Stefan pecked Elena lips, whispering something to her and walked outside with his phone to his ear. Elena tried to be okay with it but her face of apprehension betrayed her after he left.

Bonnie rolled her eyes seeing the entire interaction between the two lovers, spun around in her seat and ordered another drink. Sex On The Beach. Lord knows she needed it, she was way too stressed. It didn't even have to be with her dream girl at this point she would be desperate enough to seduce a stranger. Bonnie could feel Elena getting ready to walk her way, in her space and she didn't want to be involved with that so she stayed in her seat to the music in her seat when Elena eventually came up to her and waved her hand, getting Bonnie's attention. The brunette never had to attempt to get Bonnie to pay attention to her really. The vibe felt weird and nothing positive was coming from it.

"You've been ignoring me the entire night. Totally not fair." There was a phony lightness to Elena's voice.

"Well," Bonnie slurred, "You're not even here really, this is like date night for you. I saw your face, you're upset with him."

Slurring? Oh, yeah Miss Bonnie Bennett was drunk.

"This isn't date night for me and Stefan and I are _fine_. Not that I have to explain myself to you, but we went to Wendy's because I'm starving and Caroline didn't want to make any more stops after you."

"You don't have to explain shit to me, Elena." Bonnie started to get up. "About your job, about your family or your amazing boyfriend who thought sticking his tongue down my throat would make me like him!"

She was walking off, actually storming off angrily from Elena. No one was sober enough to make ut what she said. Bonnie began storming off somewhere far away from the bar. From Elena, her dream girl. The bronze girl's jealousy was undeniable now, even Elena could sense it. She called after her loudly but her longtime friend. Elena looked around the club for Bonnie for a good 15 minutes. At this point, she couldn't find anyone in the mix of the club.

 _ **I made Bonnie upset and she ran off. Meet me by the couches on the left side of the club**_. Read 11:15 pm.

* * *

Elena held her phone to her chest, silently rocking on the furniture. Bonnie couldn't be lost, that girl had been sure of her self since the first grade. If anything, Elena would be the person to walk off dramatically because she wasn't confrontational. Stefan walked up to her, squatting so his face could meet hers at eye level.

"I got here as fast I could. Where do you think she might be?"

"Not fast enough," Elena muttered.

"Elena, really? I just told you I had to take that call, you're making nothing out of something. Now of all times, too." He really didn't have time for her mood swings.

"Fine, whatever, you're right," She stood tall patting her blue jeans of any invisible dust.

Stefan told her to check the washrooms and if she wasn't there, then get help from Katherine. He told her he would check both floors. They hugged before they separated, she pouted when he kissed her hair. Just because she was annoyed with his job interfering with their time didn't mean affection would be void.

Checking all of the washrooms took longer than Elena thought and still no Bonnie. She did, however, spot Katherine definitely not sober climbing on the bar table. Elena shook her head and then ran to save her twin from falling on her square ass.

"Elena," Katherine crooned.

Elena was firm when she updated Katherine on what was happening. She really didn't have any patience and refused to deal with her sister's need for attention. Katherine's jaw dropped learning that Bonnie and Elena had a fight. Those two were the best of buds, so as of now Elena had to have some type of hint of Bonnie's feelings.

The two sisters walked around the establishment, locking arms. For Katherine, it was because she was still drunk and needed assistance standing up. In Elena's case, she didn't want her sister running off, an easy and cowardly way avoiding the task at hand. She had done it many times before.

"So," Katherine made a loud popping noise with her mouth. "Tonight was the night Bonnie finally let you know."

"I mean we've talked about my relationship with Stefan before and she's still upset." Maybe he should have stayed home tonight, it's too soon for Bonnie to see him with me. Elena reflected about the events that took place at dinner almost two weeks ago.

"Not about Stefan I meant-"

Elena's phone rang; it Caroline's number and fac on the caller ID. When she answered, she put the phone on speaker for Katherine to hear as well.

"We...found Bonnie." Her voice was shaky like she'd been crying.

"And, what is she okay?"

"No, she's...somebody fucking drugged her she's not waking up."

Panic shook Elena's entire body. Her best friend was being taken advantage of. She was blank, her eyes were unblinking, her throat was dry. It was like she could feel Bonnie was in pain. Katherine took the phone from Elena's hand and demanded where were they. In no time, Katherine led them near where Caroline was on her knees cradling Bonnie's unconscious body.

The blonde pleaded, "Bonnie, please wake up. I'll promise I won't be mad at you showing up an hour late to our lunch dates. I'm a punctual bitch, I know you hate me for it," She swallowed, "But I'm working on it and we can make fun of me for it when you wake up."

Caroline looked up at the two twins and screamed, "Why isn't she waking up?! Somebody help us, please!"

Elena breathed in and out and directed Katherine to get multiple bottles of water and to jump over the counter if they didn't give them to her. She bent down to tend to Bonnie, telling Caroline that she could take over now. Caroline stood up, putting her hand over her mouth, turning away. Girls being drugged wasn't unheard of, unfortunately, but the blatant ignoring of her unconscious friend was just heartless.

Katherine came rushing back with the water, handing it to Elena to work her magic. She opened one bottle pouring it on Bonnie, it spilled on the floor along with the rest of the water she opened but Elena didn't care. She has drenched herself all she wanted to see was her best friend alive.

"Elena," Bonnie woozily said.

Elena smiled weakly, hugging the drenched girl. They were both a drenched mess. Caroline smiled to herself, she secretly wished that her bond with Elena was that strong. It was unspoken but before Stefan, she was the original third wheel to Elena's life. Katherine never was particularly threatened by their bond, she was happy Elena found someone else to annoy.

As the years passed, the wavy-haired twin did pick up on Bonnie's admiration for Elena. She didn't know how Elena didn't see it. Taking matters into her own hands, Katherine orchestrated Elena's first date with Stefan in a way to separate herself from Bonnie. She knew at the 6hat it was wrong to put the fate of Bonnie's friendship with Elena in her hands, but her sister couldn't suffer being single to keep Bonnie happy.

Little did she know it backfired on her.

* * *

Stefan dragged the guy who was leading Bonnie down the stairs and his plans to take her outside the club. He slammed him against the brick wall, making the male's head recoil. They were a group of them but most of them ran off. Of course, the ring leader was the one with the shortest legs. Klaus had his right-hand man in a headlock.

"Man, just let us go, please. We can't be involved in a scandal right now, we're 3-0 right now over at Florida State, they need him to QB or we'll-"

Klaus nudged him, "I frankly don't give a shit about your American Football. Just shut up for once and don't even fathom getting out of my grasp."

Stefan didn't hold back any punches, this monster was going to pay for what he did to Bonnie. Ladies began exiting the club, looking at the dire sights. Klaus smiled and said clearly in his most unnerved voice, "Nothing to see her, loves just your nightly rapist getting his arse handed to him." The women stopped and gasped staring at the two guys being handled by Klaus and Stefan.

"Actually, what's your name?" Klaus asked the scrawny boy he was cradling violently.

"You too," Stefan sneered at the one he was beating up on the concrete wall. The little bitch shook his head.

His right-hand man gave in. "My name is Ron, can I go now?"

Klaus threw him to the ground, "Well, ladies these two boys attend Florida State, they play rough and tough football." He made a faux flex with his muscles as the girls ran off to their car. Before Ron could run off, Klaus tripped him. The Brit had been in the Navy 7 years overseas, that college student was going to have to try a tad bit harder.

Klaus squatted down and said lowly, "I could this all night until the crack ass of dawn, do not test me." Ron gulped, there was no way he was making his way out of this alive. Klaus popped back up.

"Stefan, how are you doing over there?"

"He won't give me his name."

"I see," Klaus commented. Stefan's eye was darkly staring at the boy on the wall.

"Look, I have too much shit to lose over some bitch wearing a one-piece that shows off her ass coming up to _my_ VIP area, she was practically begging for it."

"Watch your fucking mouth."

"Why? You wanna hit too, don't you? You're too mad and involved not to want to. Bonnie is it? She's all ready for you, and you can thank me for that."

Stefan backed away slowly holding his hands up and then grabbed the college kid's head and collided it against the wall again making him eat raw cement. The kid's mouth was wide open. Even Klaus was shocked at the brutal assault of the male's face. There was no dispute of whether if he deserved it or not.

"He's gonna kill him," Ron yelped, "We need him or we'll lose, how much does this girl want, we'll cover it, his parents are loaded!"

Klaus was frustrated, but the imbecile had one point: Stefan wanted the kid dead and wouldn't stop until there was no air left in his lungs. Plus, the way his supposed rich family's attorneys could spin this story a certain way was not in their favor.

"Let him go, mate. That's on his conscience, what we need to do is get to Bonnie at this instant. She's in there still and I don't know what nursery rhyme Caroline is telling her to make her wake up."

Stefan's actions came to a steep stop. All he heard was Bonnie's name, and her wellbeing was the most important. He let the boy go and Klaus let the sidekick go and the two scurried off to fall off a cliff hopefully. Klaus wrapped his arm around Stefan, steadying him as they walked back in the club."

"You're okay, man." He patted him on the back and repeated, "You're okay."

Bonnie woke up on someone's living room couch, sweating yet feeling dry. She had on baggy sweatpants and an oversized T-shirt. The woman was only 5'0, so everything was big on her. Bonnie's throat was dry, she needed water. Before she could get up to do it herself, Elena came to her and bent over gently pushing her down insisting she needed to rest. Bonnie's voice was weak when she asked for water. When she finally received it, she drunk it greedily.

"This isn't my place or yours."

Elena pursed her lips. "Because it's Stefan's."

Oh. "So, me being roofied wasn't some sick dream."

Elena sat next to her friend, holding her. "I am so sorry, if I could take it all away I'd do it in a heartbeat."

"Grams can't know about this-also who's clothes are these?"

"Also Stefan's."

"Oh."

"You also said you didn't Grams to know, so we were thinking that maybe you could crash here until you felt strong enough to go back home. I mean, you'd have to say the word."

It was much to think about, staying at her best friend's boyfriend's house. Bonnie hadn't remembered that from last night along with other things that she didn't want to dig back up. Of course, Elena would stop by but it's not like she lived with Stefan, not entirely. With his constant working, he and Bonnie would probably have little to no interaction. She took a sip from her water, not because she was thirsty but Elena was in close proximity to hers.

"Well, I just think it's too soon."

"Why? Bonnie, if this is about the kiss I swear to God, you can admit you liked it."

"I mean.,.I did. It just seemed unnecessary at the time but if you're okay with us two being temporary roommates then I'm not opposed to it."

Elena smiled and they hugged each other, Bonnie was the one who broke it up. "So, where is the man of the house?"

"He is getting some groceries, apparently he's cooking for us."

"Cooking? It's still morning time." Bonnie was incredoulous.

Elena looked at her with concern in her eyes, "Bonnie it's 5:45 in the evening. We had a very early morning, everyone wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Well, I'm fine," she turned to face the pillows. Elena got up from the couch sighing. Today, the next day wouldn't be the ideal day for Bonnie to say what happened to her. Elena would give her time. She would take off work to tend to her. Even offer space at her boyfriend's place for her to heal, all of it for Bonnie.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: He's A Cold Hearted Snake

When Stefan first walked in the house with groceries, he went into the kitchen and began unpacking them. Elena left Bonnie's side on the couch to go help and shortly after he started cooking. They're a team, you just have to accept that. Bonnie thought to herself, trying not to bring up old feelings of jealousy. Elena sat at the counter and watched as she'd never seen anyone boil water before. He said something stupid to make her laugh and that's when she saw Bonnie still alone on the couch,

Elena didn't want her best friend to feel like that, so she motioned for her to come over. The two had the best view in Miami watching Stefan Salvatore make pasta. He was humble but that didn't cancel the feeling of having full attention from two beautiful women. Elena had her hair in a high ponytail, with loose strands pooling down the sides of her face. Her attire was very casual as she was probably spending the night. Bonnie had no time to straighten her hair neither did she have her specific hair products that'd give her hair a definite curly look so it was in a frizzy bun.

Almost done with the sauce, Stefan stirred it for a final time before asking the two lovely ladies in his home for an opinion.

"Here, taste this."

"I wanna be surprised."

"Elena."

The nurse rolled her eyes while leaning forward to try the pasta sauce. Her eyes widened in reaction to the flavor in her mouth. She snatched the spoon from Stefan greedily and faced Bonnie.

"You _have_ to try this," Elena practically ordered with the spoon dangerously close to her mouth. Stefan had no use for the spoon as the pasta was done and now both Elena and Bonnie's tongues had lapped up whatever the small amount of sauce was respectively. Bonnie made a noise of pleasure as the sauce hit her tastebuds. She saw Stefan and Elena looking at her fascinated in different ways. Elena was trying to relive when she first tasted the heavenly sauce and Stefan was studying the way she at it, how long she let the seasonings sit on her tongue before swallowing it. He even licked his lip there was no doubt Elena saw it. She didn't look too mad about it. So to distract them she coughed loudly covering her mouth.

"Sorry, the food was just so good I think I'm getting...a cold."

"Cold?" Elena raised her eyebrows.

"No, not that cold, it's the AC. It's so high powered in here." She touched Elena's shoulders, " You feel that Elena?"

"Bonnie your palms are sweating," The brunette gritted, annoyed at Bonnie's spike in attitude.

"I can just cut the air conditioning off," Stefan offered.

Bonnie and Elena yelled their responses. One screamed yes, the other yelled a hard no - simultaneously. Stefan eyed both of them; neither of them was going to let up for the other. The oven timer beeped and he went to go tend to the breadsticks that were coming out the oven with a golden-brown hue.

"You're being weird, again," Elena says in a hushed tone.

"I made a peculiar noise you two couldn't keep your eyes off of me."

"We-"

Stefan announced that dinner was ready.

Even with the buffers, the dinner ended up going great. Bonnie isn't sure why she isn't overthinking and casting doubt as the three of them talk amongst themselves at the table. Bonnie gets up to pour herself some wine but Stefan stops her, she's his guest and she shouldn't have to lift a finger, at least that's what he believes. She smiles as her glass as refilled graciously. The two share a look before she drinks from her glass.

Elena was going through her phone her face deep in her screen scrolling past her gallery.

"Here!" She exclaims, all giddy-like. "These are from Coachella; Bonnie, Caroline and I went last year. It was so hot, wasn't it?"

Bonnie squints to view at the revolving photos. "Yeah, it was. Hey - I'm still looking for that blue crop top you're wearing in that picture."

"Oops, I mean we all know I looked better in it."

"Looked? What the hell did you do with my shirt woman?"

Elena shrugged, "It shrunk. Not even you could wear it."

Yes, Bonnie was really that small. While looking at the pictures, Stefan was able to notice that most of their backgrounds were dirt and grass.

"You all flew to California and camped? I don't think I have that strength."

Bonnie groaned, "Yes, and we all agreed to have a tent outside but Caroline backed out last minutes claiming she had a hotel room. I and Elena had to end up sharing a tent alone."

The brunette smiled warmly, "Well, regardless, we had fun."

Bonnie really tried to make the last sentence sound apathetic as if sleeping next to Elena was a chore. She couldn't fool Stefan really, not since she laid all her feelings bare in one sentence about his girlfriend at their first dinner. They knew it was a bald-faced lie. Bonnie loved every minute of it, waking up to Elena even if they were laying on dirt, grass and being suffocated by the West Coast heat. At the time, the two almost forgot Caroline even accompanied them. She assumed Elena ended up forgetting too because of her indifference to the blonde when she came back to the festival to enjoy the performers. They look at a few more pictures and Elena puts her phone away in her purse afterward.

It's not long before dinner is officially over and Stefan is loading the dishwasher with dirty dishes. It then occurs to Bonnie that she still has no clothes to change into. It wasn't that late so she could probably try to sneak out to Gram's house. Then again, Grams would ask questions and she didn't need that.

"Do you think you can go to my grandmother's house and grab like, a suitcase worth of clothes."

"Um, sure. What do you want me to tell her?"

"Tell her it's something Abby said."

"Do you really want to do that? I mean-okay, sure."

Bonnie mouths a thank you. She then plops down on the couch, tired. Not dealing with her problems was exactly what Abby would do and she was doing just that. She just wished she was healed enough to go back home. Grams must have been worried sick about her. She picks up a remote turning it on some night cartoon to keep her mind off of it.

"Mind if I sit here?"

She nodded, it was his house after all.

"You seem like you're in deep thought."

Bonnie shakes her head and sighs, "Sorry, I don't want to bring the mood down. It's just that I feel...kind of weak, physically and mentally."

Stefan looks at her with concern in his gaze. The topic was still sensitive and it wasn't something she could just talk about and he knew that. "You're going to pull out of this, I know. Take all the time here, I'm here for you."

"Do you think I'm being selfish with my Grams? She should know what happened to me but," Bonnie paused. "I don't even know really what happened to me."

There's a silence and then he answers her question. "I think it's ultimately up to you. When she does finally hear the truth, she'll let go being upset with you. Family always understands."

Bonnie nods in agreement. A hug would be nice but it probably isn't appropriate. They watch the cartoon until Elena comes back, trudging in with a full suitcase. She looked exhausted but she needed rolling the suitcase to the guest bedroom. Bonnie followed shortly after, and Elena plopped down on the guest bed.

Stefan comes in the room, not entirely because he was only leaning on the doorframe.

"You look half-dead."

Elena opens her eyes, hearing his voice. "Oh, my God, Bonnie did I just- Sorry." Bonnie just assures her it's okay as she's standing up and stocking the empty drawers with her clothes. Elena sits up lazily.

"I'm so exhausted, carry me out, Stefan?"

"Okay, Princess Diana." He was already making his way over to pick her up despite the playful nickname. Elena giggles in his broad arms, whispering in his ear nothing at all. She almost forgets to tell her friend goodnight.

"Goodnight, Bonnie!" She yelps in a high pitched voice. Stefan's voice follows smoothly wishing her a good night too. Bonnie just smiles and waved them off still in front of the dresser. She hated late night showers so she changed into her pajamas and opted to shower early morning right before attending dance. When lying in her bed, she hears the couple next to her. The walls are thin, it's not as though she's trying to listen.

Elena begged for him, pleaded even until he finally gave in. She'd even promised that she would quiet but that didn't happen obviously if Bonnie can hear. However the promise, in Elena's mind doesn't fall on her, she rationalizes her breaking it because of her lover and how good he made her feel. She had to show her gratitude somehow and an 'I love you' wasn't always enough. Moaning and screaming out his name while he's inside of you was way more expressive.

Bonnie assumes they both climax because of the synchronizing noise they make together and she hears complete silence after that. Stefan and Elena were officially sleeping. She can't say she's too mad about it because she chose to stay awake during their monogamous tryst and she wasn't exactly displeased with what he heard. The boy was doing a damn good job apparently.

"Goodnight," Bonnie said to no one at all and too fell into a deep slumber.

* * *

A week passes at Stefan's house. They fall into routine shortly and learn a few things about one another. Bonnie is a heavy sleeper, he figured with her dancing and caring for everyone so fiercely she deserved it. Anything could wake Stefan and he'd be on full alert ready to defend his home. Bonnie wasn't exactly horrendous in the kitchen but she preferred if Stefan cooked their meals - whenever he had time.

Within that week, they all visited her. First Caroline who came with a goody bag of treats and offering hugs. They later sat on the bed where Bonnie emptied her candy bag, sharing her gift with her friend. In mid candy binge, Caroline groaned about they were gorging on way too many calories. The sweets are way too good for Bonnie to care.

Klaus's visit is short as she doesn't know him that well but he still was very kind. They didn't talk about the event as Stefan told him that he should keep whatever conversation with Bonnie 'light'. The Brit simply walked in the kitchen and began demonstrating what her gift was - tea. It was honey too, Bonnie liked the way it tasted. She thanks him and all he told her was converting an American from coffee to tea was his second career, she laughed in response.

When Caroline and Klaus visited, respectively, Bonnie was alone. She believed that they did it purposefully because Caroline knows the girl's schedule like the back of her hand. Katherine's visit felt interrupting and as if she was trying to intimidate Bonnie. The curly brunette stood at the door with a bouquet of grey flowers.

"Let me in?" She wore a smile, staring Bonnie right in the face.

"Of course," Bonnie gritted while opening the door fully and stepping aside for Katherine's heels to click against the threshold. She closed her eyes, regretting it immensely as the visit from her best friend's twin got more insincere. Katherine handed Bonnie the flowers to vase and then checked herself out in the living room mirror.

"So, have you heard from Elena?"

"I talked to her this morning, why is she ignoring your calls again?"

"No. I was just wondering if she was alright with this."

"Well, she is."

Stefan emerged from his bedroom wearing a wifebeater and black jogging pants. He was holding a navy blue button down in one hand and a dark red one in the other. Stefan didn't even notice Katherine as he asked for Bonnie's preference. He and Elena had a date planned for tonight and out of the kindness of her heart, she was helping him through it. Bonnie walked over to him and touched the shirt, her thumb running across the blue fabric.

"This is your color...I don't know why though." Her green eyes leave the clothing to look at his. Katherine cleared her throat breaking up the two's eye lock. Caught up in their moment, the two didn't even notice her large presence.

The twin commented coolly, "It's because it really captures his eyes."

Stefan threw the red shirt on the couch and said, "Katherine, what are you doing here?"

"A friend can't visit another friend?"

Bonnie spoke up, "She brought me flowers, you know just uncharacteristic nice things Katherine does for people other than herself."

Katherine let out a dry laugh. "Very funny, Bonnie Well since I'm not wanted here from either of you I'll be on my way."

Stefan and Bonnie nodded; her visit was shady, to say the least. Before she left, Stefan yells that the two of them will talk later. Katherine ended up walking out with a smirk, knowing that she got under their skin by simply bringing flowers to Bonnie. She knew that Bonnie wouldn't be alone today all along.

* * *

While Stefan was gone, Bonnie did a number of tasks. Which was cleaning up, then talking to Grams in the midst of that, finishing her cleaning and even made a small meal for herself? Talking to her grandmother was the hardest because she had to lie. Telling her that she was staying at her best friend's boyfriend's place for some unnamed reason was not pleasant optics. Of course, she had to lie, there was no other option.

On the bright side, her hair products had finally come, the delivery man ringing the doorbell might have been the best visitor of all. That mess of a bun had to go - pronto. Bonnie had never been so happy to wash her hair and give it the treatment it deserved. Bonnie slipped into some shorts and a bare tanktop. She decided to wear more comfortable and weather accommodating night clothes, assuming that Stefan wouldn't be coming back tonight.

So, when she was watching a flick in the living room she was surprised when she heard the door unlock unveiling Stefan himself. He didn't look the happiest. Ignoring Bonnie's face of concern he walked directly in the kitchen grabbing some Vodka from the cabinet. That followed with a glass, but there was no chaser to go along with it. Stefan threw the shot to the back of his head.

"I'm sorry, Bonnie," he held up the bottle and asked, "Drink?"

She nodded negatively. Vodka was for hard times. Her Grams hoped that Bonnie would never have to actually drink it and then enjoy it in some sense. Stefan had his elbows on the counter looking at the counter. Bonnie couldn't be left in the dark anymore. She patted the empty seat next to her on the couch.

"Come on, grumpy. Tell me what happened tonight."

Stefan plopped down on the couch and recalled the events from the night. The date had been going kind of okay for the most part until he got a call from work. He had to take those calls and Elena was complaining once again saying if she had to hear that ringtone one more time she would chuck it through the front door. Bonnie smiled and lightly laughed knowing how Elena got when she was at the highest level of frustration.

"So, I come back from outside the restaurant and she's talking to her ex apparently, he's ignoring his date so his baby blue eyes can ogle Elena's outfit."

"Matt," Bonnie gritted. "He's such a Type A asshole."

"I got that impression from him when Elena introduced us. I just wanted to enjoy our date alone until she decides to invite them to our table."

"I bet you didn't say a word."

"I didn't unless I was spoken to. Anyways, it ended with Matt and I wrestling to pay the bill, at the last minute I just let him take out his credit card, pretending like I couldn't find my own. Those kinds of things feed guys like his's ego."

Bonnie sat up with her legs crossed and replied, "I don't why men do that, the whole macho-asserting-my-dominance thing. I'm glad you decided to be the bigger person though."

"Personally, I think the ideology of 'boys will be boys' is trash, if that man wanted to pay a 200 dollar bill for food he didn't eat over his masculinity, then be my guess."

She nodded, agreeing with every word he said. Her curls bounced as she did so, fully defined. If Stefan was back at the house with her, the date must have done poorly. Which was ironic because just when she was finally getting over her internal jealousy they were quite actually sinking. Bonnie moved a loose hanging strand of hair behind her ear not quite sure what to do as Stefan's eyes loomed over her entirely. He reached out to touch her and instead of responding reluctantly to his hands, Bonnie's position never faltered. She was nervous as hell though.

"Your hair, it looks..." He spoke softly, trailing off getting lost in her appearance.

"Different," she finished for him. She was used to people like him being fascinated with her hair.

"I was going to say it looks free."

"Oh," she replied, looking down as she blushed.

Stefan lifted up her chin, softly. "I want to see you."

Beads of sweat formed on Bonnie's forehead, she could blame it on the poor AC or the fact that Stefan was looking at her with much want. She gulped silently at the moment, not knowing what to do. All the cues were physical and she was always taught to do the thing that felt the most right and natural in class. So, she kissed him, her tongue tasting the shot of vodka he'd downed before their conversation. She didn't want him to feel like turning to the bottle was something you did when you were unhappy.

This was completely from their first kiss where they knew next to nothing about each other if it didn't involve Elena. Kissing Bonnie this time around didn't feel so orchestrated on his end. They parted for air resting on each other's foreheads for support. Before he lies her down on her back he asks for her permission to do so. That question almost takes her out of her body, she can't remember the last time a man asked to please her.

"Bonnie?"

She jumped up quickly, "Yes- uh continue."

They resume their heated kissing on the sofa their sounds of teeth clashing and grunts and moans drowning out the television. Bonnie's legs are stiff at first buts she grows into the kiss, one leg she wraps around his waist while the other itches the inside of his leg, needily. Since her legs are out because of her shorts, he feels her bare legs around him and it drove him insane. Stefan went into a frenzy, leaving her lips to go attack her neck with multiple kisses.

Bonnie bit her lip in anticipation, watching him work on top of her. He slid a hand up her shirt squeezing one of her breast resulting in a moan. She giggled when Stefan kissed her collarbone but the laughter stopped shortly because reality hit. This was the ultimate betrayal - this was her not her man to claim. He was in a monogamous relationship, he shouldn't even be thinking about desiring Bonnie this badly.

She placed a hand over his chest, pushing him away. Stefan looked confused for the most part.

"This didn't happen," Bonnie declared, pulling the strap of her tank top over her shoulder. It was dysfunction at its finest but the best way for her to work around it was to lie. Sure, Elena was fine with one kiss in her kitchen she knew about but not a tension-packed one after a fight with her boyfriend. It was all in bad taste and morals had been thrown completely out the window for anyone to come clean.

"You came here drunk a couple of shots after your horrendous date with your girlfriend and her awful jerk of an ex, vented to me about it and fell asleep on the couch while we watched," Bonnie looked back at the flatscreen, "Fucking Adult Swim for I care and I dragged you to your bed because this couch is not that comfortable for sleeping. Tomorrow, after work go straight to the store to pick up some flowers or chocolate hell, both considering how bad your date went tonight and apologize because she is very stubborn and will not admit her wrong first. And if that doesn't work, seduce her, _fuck_ the forgiveness out of her, I don't care."

Stefan didn't know if he needed a paper and pencil as she gave an Elena 101 lecture or to slowly clap. Bonnie breathed in and out, feeling her nerves come to a plateau. She began to leave the living room to retreat to her bedroom, but she was stopped by Stefan's hand interlocking with hers. She was only giving him a mere minute to talk about what just occurred.

"Bonnie, I'm sorry but Elena needs to see how great you really are."

"I've tried for years, but it's too late all she sees is you," She releases his hand and wished him goodnight.

"Have a good night, Bonnie," Stefan said as she closed her bedroom door. He heard her quiet sulking throughout the night knowing he could do nothing to stop her tears as he was the cause over them.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Lewd text is in this chapter so beware.**

Chapter 6: Man, Leave the Attitude At Home

The next week goes by and everything is back to where it was - normal. At least that's how Bonnie justifies it. She knew that Stefan would go back to Elena and would cover up the fact that they did share a rather heated kiss on the couch. Her talks with Elena had bee strained on her end, but she'd gotten so good at hiding the emotions she really felt from Elena for so long that the brunette didn't even notice.

Placing Elena's happiness over her own tended to be Bonnie's never-ending record of her life.

Then she had to deal with Stefan, quiet and brooding to times the tenth power. Ironically the kiss put them 2 steps back, they barely said a word to one another or even saw one another with conflicting schedules. The two have yet to discuss the kiss and how it felt. She thanks God that he throws himself into his work instead of the latter.

Bonnie also thanks to the Lord for her vibrator coming a day earlier than expected. She ordered long before the incident last Sunday. Sometimes, she just had those days and while her fingers were nice she craved for actual penetration. It was completely normal to have urges but not for your friend - or their boyfriend. She always fucked herself at night, knowing her orgasm was more than earned after a hard day of work. Being mindful of her sensual sounds had never really occurred to Bonnie, but it's too late to go back as she had listeners in the next room.

Elena is in her pink pajamas; a pink tank top with tight straps and matching silk bottoms. Her hair underneath a towel is drenching wet from her shower. She was wearing her reading glasses as she had a thick book in her hands, flipping pages. Effortlessly, she looked alluring yet adorable. The nightstand's lamp was still on as she depended on its illumination so that she can see the words in her novel.

Finally, Stefan emerges from the bathroom that connects to his bedroom. He was shirtless wearing plaid pajama pants apart of his nightwear. Stefan joins her on the bed, making his presence known by flopping down on the bed. It didn't take rocket science to know that two had showered together. Elena didn't respond whatsoever to him accompanying her and continued reading her book. What actually made her break away from her book was the thudding and light moans from the room down the hall.

"She's having fun," Elena comments with a chuckle and flipped to the next page, thus ending the chapter she had began when first seated.

"Sure is." He replied in a stern voice.

Elena placed her book on the nightstand, officially done with it for the night. She pursed her lips in thought and pressed her glasses to her nose. Perfect Elena didn't have not-so-20/20 vision. Caroline would have loved to see the girl squint without them. Only a few people knew that she needed eye assistance in her life and she kept it that way. She faced her boyfriend and comforted him by placing her hips over hips, effectively straddling him.

"You seem tense," She touches his face while his eyes droop at her exposed cleavage. Her hand lifts up his chin and said, "Yet in a different place."

"Sorry," Stefan muttered. "Work's been-"

Elena sighed, looking down. "I know. You've been so unavailable lately I'm starting to think it's something I did."

Stefan grabbed Elena's hand and kissed it, assuring nothing she did nothing wrong. He knows that he needs to start paying attention to her more because of the way she is and how needy she can be without directly saying it. In other words, Elena's favorite language was passiveness. She smiles at her boyfriend's consoling words. Her smile is quickly faltered when Stefan brings his lips to her neck, kissing it appreciatively.

Naturally, she throws her head back, lost in a whirlwind of pleasure and pulls him closer grinding her hips against his. Her knees sunk deep in the mattress as they mindlessly dry humped like teenagers. Unable to take any more of teasing and biting, Elena pushed him down to the bed, holding his writhing body by grabbing his neck. "Stay," She beckoned softly and released her hand from his neck.

It isn't long before his erections began to stab at her leg. The thought of Elena flipping him on his back and having her way with him drove Stefan insane. Elena may have looked her most confident hovering over him but her palms were sweaty. She gripped her hands on the sheets, thinking it would dry them. She captured Stefan's lips in a passionate kiss, realizing it's their first of the night.

She eyes his muscular body while he takes in her lovely appearance on top of him. Elena grazed her nails over his bare torso, preparing to kiss it as is. Stefan gives in by moaning her name out loud. All she was doing was swirling her tongue around his nipples, biting them on the occasion. He knew somewhere else that needed that sort of undivided attention. It wasn't until she got to his abs, she stopped her mouthy tricks.

There was faint scream coming from the room followed by a closing silence. It made both Stefan and Elena's ear perk up and they froze waiting for something else to happen. Their guest must have fallen asleep. Elena looked up at Stefan.

"Did she just-?"

"I assume so."

"That was actually kind of hot." She kisses his stomach, and her mouth keeps traveling further pleasing him in the best way.

* * *

Bonnie, Elena, and Caroline were on one of their cafe meetings better than they were just about a month and a half ago. Caroline was already showing them details of her grand Halloween parties and showing the girls across from her a sketch of the invites. Caroline was very meticulous when it came down to party planning and if one simple light wasn't shining, she'd snap.

It was hard trying to satisfy the blonde's party request and act as an aid for her because of how demanding she was. In her very dramatic way of showing her devotion to throwing a killer party, she also said she was renting out a mansion for the weekend. Whoever wasn't going was missing out on an epic night. While Elena steered clear of them these days, Bonnie still helped out their dear friend. She placed her hand over Caroline's hand asking her what she could do to pitch in.

Caroline giddily smiled, "Okay, actually this isn't really a typical 'help me with decor and food and drinks' type of thing." She took a long breath. "The artist I'm paying to perform is a dancer behind. Bonnie Bennett, do you want to take that girl's spot?"

Bonnie was shocked; this was an opportunity to finally showcase her capabilities even if the people in attendance were going to be in costume. Still, after her incident at the club, she thought it might too soon to be so open. Going to this party itself was going to be a battle. Walking away from opportunity wasn't Bonnie's motto.

"I'll do it, can you e-mail me their information? I hope you highlighted the fact that I can learn the choreography quickly."

Caroline smiled, loving her friend's determination. She pulled out her tablet and began to send the details to Bonnie via email.

"What made you want to do it?" Elena asked the dancer.

Bonnie shrugged, "We don't operate in fear."

Caroline and Elena agreed, nodding and taking Bonnie's wise words strongly. Elena reached over to shake her friend happily, congratulating her. She told Bonnie that she could become famous and outshine them all and eventually forget all about them. As they laughed, Bonnie couldn't believe how Elena fathomed that her presence would ever be forgotten. The future and its possibilities were scary at times. Caroline went back to typing on her device while the other two cheekily interacted.

Elena sipped from her strawberry all cute-like, her eyes glancing at Bonnie every once in a while. Bonnie covered up her mouth, hiding her nonsensical giggles. She liked to convince herself that the two had a secret language that no one else understood. They traded drinks because they both wanted to know how each other's tasted like. According to Elena, Bonnie's strawberry fuschia had better overall quality. She loved it so much that she ordered another when their waiter came back around.

"Okay, so," Caroline said looking up and showed them a list of people's names. "This is the guest list I've conjured, any problems?" Elena squinted, trying to read the simple words. Bonnie saw her struggling and saved her from embarrassment and said aloud, "Ah, that doesn't look too bad, right Elena?" The brunette nodded agreeing.

Caroline raised a brow and asked, "You sure? Damon's on here and you know Katherine might cause a scene." Elena rolled her eyes. They had broken up months ago. Bonnie looked confused and Caroline, being the person she is and keeping everyone informed told her all about Damon Salvatore.

"He sounds like a dick," Bonnie commented.

"A dick or not, he knows how to party and I can network with his people." Caroline dramatically faced Elena and exclaimed, "I can't have your sister screwing that up because of some old breakup."

"Trust me, I can keep Katherine under control," Elena gritted, getting frustrated with the blonde's worries. Caroline smiled robotically and dusted off her jeans of invisible dust, "Great, you do that." Bonnie coughed breaking up the tension between the two, already having a fight over Katherine's attitude already. The curly haired brunette would be feeling flattered right now if she knew that she was, in fact, the topic of discussion.

Breaking away from talking about the problematic twin, Caroline started to talk about how costumes were a requirement.

"Slutty or scary are your choices, a good mix of both is good though."

"Are those really the only options, Care?" Elena whined.

"Ugh, calm down Elena I was joking obviously. Me and Klaus are coming as Mr. and Mrs. Addams. Of course, I'm never going to dye my hair so I'll be wearing this ridiculously long black wig."

"And Klaus?"

Caroline giggled, "I lied and said we'd both dye our hair black." Bonnie and Elena snickered at the cruelty. They did all agree that the couple could pull off the dark family's look.

The blonde's eyes light up. "So, what are you and Stefan going as?"

"I don't know yet, this is our first holiday together I have no idea how seriously he takes dressing up."

Bonnie cleared her throat. Caroline looked at her for a second, possibly out of pity since she had no one to dress up with romantically with. Bonnie hated that she couldn't bond with them on a superficial level sometimes. The blonde started to name suggestions for the couple to which Elena rejected.

"Bonnie and Clyde?"

"Ew, no. I don't get the obsession."

"Slutty cheerleader and asshole jock?"

"God, no."

"The Kennedy's?"

"I don't want to send _that_ kind of message."

"Aladdin and Jasmine?"

"Disney is adorable but we're white so, no."

"That's good take actually," Bonnie commented.

"The optics of it all are so insulting and in poor taste."

Caroline tapped her nails on the table. "The Great Gatsby? You two would so eat that 20's look."

Elena pondered on it and then saying no and that her hate for Daisy Buchanan ruined it for her. Neither of them was getting anywhere with the couples costume idea and were on their way to calling it quits. Costumes could be decided later on. Caroline and Elena may have had been in serious relationships but both of them had different views. Bonnie had an epiphany, acting as a mediator for the two's dilemma.

"Stefan as James Dean and you as Marilyn Monroe.*"

Elena and Caroline shared a look of amusement deciding Bonnie's suggestion was gold stricken.

"That's great I totally see it happening," Caroline exclaimed, looking up above dazing. "Leather jackets and Marilyn's iconic red lipstick. Of course, Elena as a blonde would be peculiar."

The brunette decided to ignore the last sentence.

"Bonnie, you're a genius, how did you even come up with this? He['ll love it knowing it came from you."

"Oh," Bonnie coughed, "Don't tell him really, anyone could have thought of it. He has that whole romance novel stare, linking it to James isn't a stretch. You as Marilyn Monroe is great vision too you can pull off that innocent but hot-enough-to-screw thing she had going on."

Caroline pouted, she was the natural blonde of the group yet Elena was going to dress up as one. Bonnie pressed her palms together silently hoping that the brunette wouldn't object her wishes. Elena raised an eyebrow, finding it odd Bonnie didn't want credit for her idea. She then nodded and gave a nonchalant 'okay.'

Caroline's phone beeped, she groaned setting her tablet back in her bag and answered her phone. She excused herself and walked to the bathroom to carry out the phone call. Bonnie breathed in and out, "I think I'm ready to go back home."

"That's great, Bonnie, but are you really sure?"

"I am, Grams needs me. I heard Abby skipped town."

"Oh. I mean what did we expect..." Elena muttered.

"Nothing, my expectations were low since the day she arrived. She'll be back when her funds run low."

Caroline came back with the news - The Parkers were coming. Elena vaguely remembered them while Bonnie was having a mini panic attack. There was one Parker, in particular, she ended things on a bitter note.

"Yeah, they're the twins, they went to school here and transferred after their first year to go to NYU," Caroline informed.

"Oh!" Elena said aloud, remembering the two blondes. "Isn't one of them gay? Not that it matters but I remember him and Katherine bonding over her custom designer bag."

"They're both gay. I know Luke will have a great time but Liv is just one of those depressing lesbians. They come as a pair, there's nothing I can do about it."

Bonnie nearly choked on her drink at the mention of the girl's name.

* * *

 **4 years ago**

Bonnie held on to her leather jacket walking inside of the loud club. All she remembers was the pink lights and many women flirting and kissing. She was a freshman and thought she was swearing off men for good. Her mother would strike her dead if she knew she was at a gay bar.

Good thing she was a grown woman now and her and Abby had never been particularly close. She went out with Caroline the other night and was left alone as the blonde went home with a stranger. It was shitty but Caroline did call the next day expressing her apologies. They were freshmen and engorging on all the college parties and boys, hookups were inevitable. However, as the pickup lines and the smell of beer got stale and staler, Bonnie no longer cared to go the parties anymore.

It was the reason why she was at the bar now; she needed new scenery. She sat at the bar, ordered a drink or two and eyed her surroundings. The women around her were having immense fun and seemed very loose with one another. Maybe straight spaces were her, after all, they were insufferable but she had been conditioned to be around them her whole life. After 30 minutes she started grabbing her bags until a curly blonde spiked her interest.

"Hey there beautiful," Liv grabbed Bonnie's hand and kissed it. "Leaving so soon?"

Bonnie laughed and sat back in her seat, completely enamored with her directness. She wasn't uncomfortable at all with the gesture of her kissing her hand. Women just had a nurturing spirit that made her feel not so harmed. They talked and laughed and Liv introduced her to her friends a couple of the names of Nora and Mary. Apparently being together for that long in a lesbian relationship basically meant marriage.

The caramel skinned girl was learning a lot with Liv and they ended the night exchanging numbers. The blonde leaned in for a hug. Bonnie loved the way the girl smelt; strawberries dipped in milk ten times over. Liv then leaned in for a kiss, Bonnie placed a finger on her lips.

"I don't kiss on the first date."

"Who said this was a date? We just met tonight." She leaned into Bonnie's ear, "Yet you're making me work for it."

Bonnie giggled, she had _maybe_ found a potential first girlfriend.

* * *

They go on dates, eat cotton candy and Bonnie complains about her friends to Liv. Sometimes, they would study together in each other's dorm. Studying in close proximity didn't last long because it morphs into kissing on the bottom bunk. Liv usually stopped it; she was Bonnie's first girlfriend and didn't want to pressure her. She knew that Bonnie had done things with other guys but not too much of anything with girls.

Liv and Bonnie were talking about the latest thing Elena and Caroline did. Both of them were wondering why Bonnie wasn't dating. They were straight and never would understand inner struggles with her sexuality Bonnie would always point out to Liv. They could go out and kiss their significant other without any scrutiny. Also, while she loved Caroline and Elena dearly, they always brought plans to her expecting her to be down to go.

Liv cupped her face, "Babe, ever consider telling these bitches that everything isn't about them?"

Bonnie tried to speak up, but no words came out. She was the mediator and didn't want to bring her conflict to the table. That would mess up the balance. Liv sighed, "Whenever you're tired of being their therapist. They don't even seem like they even like each other if you're not there." It was sort of true and even then they barely got along. The three of them being roommates single-handedly saved the friendship.

The two were in Liv's dorm room in close proximity. Bonnie smiled and starting giving the curly blonde kisses. Liv giggled between the pecks, pressing her head against Bonnie's.

"What are you doing?"

"Kissing my girlfriend, you know showing affection."

"Girlfriends, I like it."

They keep on kissing until Liv says it's time to return to their studying. Bonnie groaned lying down. "Do we have to?" She pleaded. Liv bent down to peck her nose. "Yes, we do." Bonnie stared into her girlfriend's blue eyes, getting lost in them. Theirs becomes heated quickly like a match being set ablaze. Bonnie and Liv are once again in a deep kiss, it becoming more passionate as they move closer, Bonnie's hair fisting Liv's golden locks. Taking a minute to catch their breaths, Liv hovered over Bonnie pressing their foreheads together.

"Kiss me with your..." Bonnie trails off, sort of ashamed.

"Yes?"

"Yes, with your tongue. Teach me everything I want to know and experience."

All Bonnie's saw were colors and her head hitting the pillow as Liv planted kisses below her belly.

* * *

Liv and Bonnie practically lasted the entire semester. Bonnie was glowing and her friends would never know why. Caroline assumes she's having scandalous sex with a TA while Elena could never imagine Bonnie doing something that disastrous and has her own private theories. She was happy that Bonnie was happy. Elena was still with Matt, it made both Caroline and Bonnie gag but there was nothing they could do but hope for the relationship's inevitable end.

"Finals were _awful_ ," Caroline groaned while packing her bag. "The only good thing coming from this is a whole month of winter break off."

"We deserve it," Bonnie said.

"I'm not worried too much about finals, one of my professors let use a cheat sheet, so that's one class I know I passed with an A, the rest are B's for sure," Elena shared.

Coincidentally, it's one of the classes Matt is in, they must really want him to pass to keep playing on their football team. Hearing about him was draining. Elena dragged her ass to all of his game even if he's benched, even inviting Bonnie who didn't care for the sport whatsoever.

"Did you all hear about the frat party Kappa's throwing before the break this Friday? We definitely go."

Elena nodded, Matt was going so her being in attendance was no doubt. Bonnie stayed quiet, her and Liv were supposed to meet up before they both left to go visit their families. A sweaty college party was nowhere to be intimate. Caroline looked up to face their now mute friend.

"Bonnie, you're going, right? Please say yes."

"Oh, of course, I was just thinking about something. It sounds like fun."

Later on, Bonnie sends Liv a text that she had to cancel because of her needy friends.

 _Ugh, you guys are literal roommates we don't see each other every day. Movie night sounds boring though, have fun._

 _Sorry babe, it's obligatory according to Caroline. Knew you'd understand._

Bonnie sighed and held her phone close shutting it off, knowing that lying to her girlfriend was completely wrong.

* * *

The party comes and the trio disbands quickly as Elena pairs off with Matt, kissing her girl's goodbye. Caroline does stick it out with Bonnie and they dance and sing songs in the Kappa's huge living room. Caroline expressed her tiredness and announced she was getting them a drink but she never returned leaving Bonnie in a sea of strangers. One of the party guests particular isn't a stranger because she saw Liv.

Bonnie was red-handed, literally picking up a red cup drinking it nervously as her blonde girlfriend approached her. Liv poked at her chest and smiled.

"Movie night, you say?" Liv teased. She wasn't at all mad and kind of figured that Bonnie's friends would pressure her to go this typical frat party. Bonnie sighed, "Okay I lied, I just-"

"Shush, I really didn't come here to hear you rag on your selfish friends. You lied to me Bonnie, take some responsibility."

"I'm sorry, I really mean it."

Liv takes her hand. The best they could do is make light of a bad situation. Life was too short to be bitter over a white lie. They danced and drank and laughed through the night. Bonnie was having a better time expected. She wasn't sure if leaning in for a kiss was appropriate so she led them in a broom closet, telling another a couple to get out.

"Ooh, my girl's feisty," Liv said with a smirk as Bonnie locked the door. Bonnie pushed Liv against the wall.

"Shut up and let me kiss you."

Liv let her happily. Bonnie's tongue ran across the girl's clavicle and she put her knee between Bonnie's thigh, rubbing it so slightly. Bonnie bit her lip in reaction and Liv watched her greedily, taking the opportunity to grab her face and kiss her again. Bonnie was glad that she took the initiative and at that moment she knew to kiss a girl, her girlfriend was the most natural form of affection and shouldn't be in a remote location.

She placed her finger over Liv's lips. "We're better than this, we deserve a bed."

"Hookup in a random frat boy's bed? We're becoming more aligned with our heterosexual counterparts each day," Liv joked.

Bonnie laughed unlocking the door, holding her girlfriend's hand walking out the closet together. She was going to lead them to an empty bedroom and if so help her God it wasn't empty she'd force the couple out like before. No one was going to stop her from pleasing her lover. Liv marveled at Bonnie's newfound confidence as party-goers eyed the couple walking out, assuming the truth - they were girlfriends. However, they were all drunk or buzzed so they weren't going to be exactly outraged.

Elena Gilbert may have had a bigger impact on Bonnie than God ever did. She caught Bonnie walking up the stairs as she was descending them, crying. Elena's mascara had been essentially ruined and stained her cheeks rather poetically. Bonnie hated seeing her like that she let go of Liv's hand to tend to her best friend's broken state. The brunette ran into Bonnie's arms, hugging her closely.

"Oh, Bonnie I was just looking for you," She stroked Bonnie's cheek. "Matt, he...I caught him in bed with April. He's been lying to me this whole time."

Bonnie envelops her in another hug, soothing her. The brunette got all dressed up in her red, hot mini dress and heels just to cry over a man. Bonnie could only empathize. Elena opened her eyes to see Liv awkwardly watching them hug. Liv looked like she was waiting on Bonnie to introduce them.

"I'm sorry, are you a friend of Bonnie's?"

"Yeah, I am, we're really friendly."

"Elena this is Olivia, she's in my Psych class."

"Oh," The still distraught girl said. "Well, it was nice meeting you. If we share one thing it's that Bonnie is a great friend." Elena offered a weak smile and Liv returned it and agreed.

"Yeah, she is. See you in January," Liv said to the curly haired girl and walked away and out of the party.

Bonnie face-palmed; it wasn't that hard to say that they were more than friends. She knew one thing though. She chose her best friend over her girlfriend, proving that the latter meant way less to her. The brunette and her had a shared history that transcended her current relationship. She and Elena went home shortly after not being able to find Caroline, who apparently left the party earlier to catch her flight early morning.

* * *

When they get to the dorm, Elena plops down on the bed and sulks. Bonnie follows her, holding her face.

"You're way too pretty to be crying over his ass, you need to get it together."

Elena swallowed and nodded. They go into the bathroom and together they washed off her smeared makeup. Bonnie walks out as Elena began to shower. She hears feet step on the shower tile and the water shuts off. Quickly, she grabs the essential under and nightwear for her friend.

"Bonnie can you pass me my-"

"Already on it."

The brunette came out of the bathroom in pajamas, preparing for bed. She still looked completely wrecked by Matt's betrayal. She sighed and lied on the bottom bunk. Bonnie is relieved that Elena was finally coming down from her hysterical high.

"Where would I be without you, Bonnie Bennett?"

"Lost," Bonnie replied with a chuckle.

Elena twiddled her thumbs. "Do you think you can lay with me tonight? I don't mean to be weird I just need comfort."

"Of course," Bonnie responded.

Though she got to lay with the girl she's loved forever she never heard back from the girl she loved now and who loved her back equally the same. Liv never returned her calls or texts. It absolutely devasted Bonnie when she visited her ex's empty dorm because she had learned that the blonde had transferred. Evidently, nothing was holding Liv back from going to her first choice university upstate. Her and Bonnie were even; proving to be disposable to one another.

* * *

It was Bonnie's last day at Stefan's place and she would't lie; she would be sad to leave it. However, staying there was selfish and that wasn't something she wanted to be. They never got to talk about the kiss but he did help her pack.

"I'm going to miss you, it's gonna go back to it being totally being empty here."

"Oh, please. You're just being nice." Bonnie smiled at Stefan, to which he returned.

"I'm not but if you like to hear lies," Stefan shurgged, "I totally am."

Bonnie opened all the drawers, they were all empty meaning her packing was over. She pursed her lips, it was over. Stefan started to roll her bag out into the living room. Bonnie rotated the room once more and saw something that caught her eye. Her purple friend in the corner the bedroom. _The fucking vibrator._ Quickly she had to figure out how to conceal it take it with her.

She didn't need it anymore as it served its purpose but those times of desire could sprout had forgotten last night she gave her self another orgasm as a send off, it must have rolled over as she fell asleep in a deep slumber. She knew that she couldn't walk out with a plastic male organ in her hand so openly so she came up with a foolproof excuse.

"Stefan," she called out, "Um, can you close your eyes? I, um have these super large," She eyed the object in her hand. "Tampons!" Bonnie yelled out choppily.

"I-Uh, okay, do what you have to do."

Bonnie peaked out from the doorframe, seeing that he had his eyes religiously closed. Stefan was trustworthy, she didn't know why she looked to make sure first. His eyes weren't closed because he was scared of seeing feminine hygiene products, it was that the fact that he was respecting Bonnie's wishes. She hurriedly unzipped the bag, stuffing the vibrator in, breathed in and out calming her nerves. She successfully hid it away. _I really just got away with doing that._

"Okay, you can open your eyes now."

Stefan crossed his arms, his biceps tensed as he did so. Bonnie eyed him, placing a stray hair behind her hair. Innocent eye ogling wasn't going to kill anyone. It wasn't the worst thing she's done. Bonnie swallowed, old feelings were stirring up, feelings she was trying to dead. He had been so kind to her the whole day and of course she couldn't separate friendliness from romantic gestures.

He laughed, "My eyes are up here."

Oh, yeah he noticed, and he was cocky too.

Bonnie coughed, "Yeah, of course they are." She turned around to get her purse from the couch, looking inside of it to grab her sunglasses. Clearly she wanted to cut their eye flirting short. It was time to go, she started to walk out and Stefan followed her out since he as her ride. Before she opened the passenger door, Stefan called out her name.

"What now-" She was stopped by his arms wrapping around her giving her a tender hug. Her objections ceased instantly. She breathed in his scent, wishing she could bottle it up and take it with her too.

"Thank you," she said when they parted, "For everything."

The ride to her grandmother's house is not that long really, It's where Bonnie should be and a part of her was ecstatic to come back home. When they get there, Stefan stops. She looks confused for a moment.

"I may have slipped up and told Elena about the kiss."

"You did not and why tell me now?"

"I did it because I like you, a lot and while I can't tell Elena about your feelings for her doesn't mean I can keep mines bottled up."

It was a lot to take in. Bonnie sat there in thought once again. Those were very expressive feelings.

"Is Elena mad at me?"

"Her anger won't be directed towards you, trust me."

"I'm sorry but I have to go. Grams is waiting for me."

Bonnie walked out the car and popped open the trunk to get her suitcase. She walked off not looking back and rang her home's doorbell. It was wonderful being greeted by her grandmother's warm embrace. Bonnie knew that Grams had questions but all she needed right now was to hold her grandmother for the moment.

 **A/N/: *I'm aware that Marilyn Monroe never dated James Dean. I heard it in a Rihanna song and couldn't stop thinking about SE. Plus, it's my creative right to tweak things for the story.** **I finished this on Monday instead of Sunday because I needed to include that flashback and clarify Bonnie's feelings for women in general and how she would essentially choose Elena over her healthy love life. (Which isn't healthy within itself) Next update we're skipping the bullshit and starting right with the Halloween party. Messiness ensues as we meet new but familiar characters.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I apologize for the prolonged wait. Hopefully this long update holds whoever was waiting eagerly for the Halloween party. I'm just gonna put a warning for sexually explicit content even though it'll take** _eons_ **to get there. I hope an almost if not 9000 word chapter has your heads turning with all the drama occurring at this party. If not, I'm sorry because admittedly, I had immense trouble writing all this content. P.S, Elena did not know of Bonnie's feelings for her.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Girls Need Love Too

"So you're attracted to her?"

"Elena, please."

"You just told me in the nicest way possible that you want to screw my best friend!"

Stefan yawned and stretched loudly and rested his head on his hand, eyes boring into Elena's. "God, I love our pillow talks."

Elena suddenly sat up, ran her fingers through her hair and closed her eyes. These were not matters to be laughed at. She never ran into a problem like this one and she couldn't solve a clusterfuck she created. She had everything to offer and more, t hurt initially when he admitted his lingering attraction for another. But this anyone wasn't ordinary, it was Bonnie they were talking about. She was the only exception.

Instead of using her own pillow, Elena snatched the pillow underneath her boyfriend to hit him in the head with.

"Stefan Salvatore, I'm trying to be angry at you."

He got a little less playful and back to his usual, aligned close-grained self and crossed his arms.

"Okay, what bothers you the most?"

"It bothers me that you lied. I thought we were better than that."

One of Elena's biggest fears was being excluded she grew up being in the loop or better yet being the center of everyone's attention. Stefan's betrayal hurt her more than she'd like her ego to admit.

"I'm sorry, it was completely my fault."

Elena twiddled her thumbs, "I am still working on accepting your apology." He nodded and kissed her hand. She sighed and continued. "While you can be more open and honest about it, Bonnie will only beat herself up about it and pretend like it didn't happen."

Well, Elena was right about that one.

* * *

Bonnie's return home was smooth for the most part. She wasn't ready to tell what had happened to her in the club just a month ago. She also couldn't inform her grandmother about the fracture she caused in her and Elena's friendship because of her boyfriends' wandering eye. Their situation was too messy that it didn't need to be repeated in any way shape or form. She hadn't talked to Elena besides a few texts here and there and even those were strained.

Distance is what they needed, the only problem is that the heart grows fonder. Bonnie did miss Elena's company greatly. Everything was just too confusing for them to see face to face. So, she threw herself into the routine and preparing for the party. The dancer assumed Elena did the same with her work at the hospital, finding some patient to pour extra sympathy into.

All that was important was being there for grandmother. Now the two were sewing Bonnie's costume for the party. The turquoise fabric they used was shiny and very polyester-like. However there was snug to it, that would cling and accentuate Bonnie's curves.

After 3 o'clock they were nearly done. Grams wiped off sweat from brow and tapped a hardworking Bonnie to show her she finished the bottoms to the costume. Bonnie smiled and sighed of relief and pulled her grandmother in a grateful hug. Realizing that she had put all her attention into creating her outfit Bonnie never checked her phone once. Neglecting the miniature laptop in her back pocket proved to be one of her biggest life mistakes.

"Fuck," she muttered, her eyes glued to the urgent texts from her phone.

 _I know I said I didn't want to bother you with party misc things but I really need a gallon of Bacardi. I'll cash app you when you get here. OH- and Mike needs you here at 5._

 _Make sure you get here at five, Bonnie._

 _I don't know what your costume is exactly but I hope to see you turn heads, tonight._

Bonnie smiled at the last one knowing it was no other than Stefan. Flirtatious yet confined. She shoved her phone back in her pocket, mentally checking on her responsibilities and reminders for tonight. The last thing she had to do was hot glue the jewelry on her top; a golden band would wrap around her torso.

Grams came back with a cup of cold water, drinking some of it before saying, "I know you said you didn't need your mom's-"

"Abby," Bonnie gritted the spotty woman's real name, hot glue getting on her hand accidentally.

"She is bringing your grand wig in. I don't know why you need any weave at all your hair is so pretty."

Bonnie looked up from her hot gluing to look at her Grams solemn state. The woman didn't have an abundance of life yet and all she wanted was for Bonnie and her daughter to make up if something did happen to her. Every time they had made progress, they took a full 10 steps back. To Grams knowledge of Bonnie leaving so abruptly was because of something cruel Abby said.

"Well, tell her she needs to be here in the next 45 minutes. I have places I need to be." She responded back curtly.

Bonnie grabbed her costume pieces and retreated to her bedroom to properly hang them up and put them in a black bag. Abby took her warning well as she turned up at the door in her 45-minute timeframe with the black wig, encrusted with jewels. She smiled when she unveiled it to her daughter, who was still stern with her.

Abby knew that Bonnie was mad with her, but the best way to atone to that was to show up pronto with the girl's wig. She offered a smile and rotated the mannequin with the hair on it. Bonnie's expression softened, maybe her mother had tried to make amends, she said a quiet 'thank you.' and took the mannequin from Abby to give it an even closer look.

"You're going to be the exact embodiment of Cleopatra, won't she mama?"

Grams cleared her throat, getting out of the trance of enjoying her daughter and granddaughter's semi-sweet moment. She just nodded, just wanting to hear Bonnie's reply.

"Yeah, do you think you can cornrow my hair? I'd do it myself but the wig needs to lie flat since I'm performing."

Abby, without a question, rushed to the bathroom closet grabbing the necessary products to braid her daughter's hair. When she came back, she braided Bonnie's hair while the girl stayed on her phone the entire time. _She must really have things she needs to do..._ Abby hummed to herself, trying not to take being ignored so personally. After she finished braiding, she applied mouse to Bonnie's cornrows.

The substance was cold and foamy but it would keep the girl's braids intact for the next week or so. Bonnie may have not wanted to keep a conversation going with her mother but she was grateful. She stood up after Abby pinned her straight black hair to her braids and hugged her.

"Thank you, again," They released from their quick embrace. Bonnie walked over to Grams, who was still watching the two interact and gave her grandmother an even bigger hug. It left Abby feeling inadequate, once again she was only there some of the time while her mother was more stable and patient. Bonnie pressed her hands together and announced with humor dripping from her voice, "Okay, well I have to go before Caroline files a missing persons report."

They laughed as she ran out of the house.

* * *

It was nearing 4:30 and Bonnie quickly backed out of her driveway, almost hitting the fire hydrant by her home. She had to travel to the liquor store, which wasn't too far. Her outfit in the black bag sat snugly in the backseat waiting to be worn for the night. Getting the alcohol was easy enough until the cashier asked for proof that she was 21 or over. Begrudgingly, she pulled her driver's license out of her pocket.

She could have easily gotten the man in trouble and reported it to his manager but she was pressed for time and that just wasn't an option. Getting to Caroline's party destination wasn't that difficult, she had the best-decorated house on the block despite it being rented. It was Halloween so kids would be walking around freely, so Bonnie was glad that she wasn't wearing her costume.

Besides, she knew to keep her costume under wraps - literally - would solidify her as one of the best dressed of the night.

Bonnie was greeted with a very Addams looking, Klaus. He smiled at her, grabbing her hand to lead her in the mansion. She giggled as he rambled about Caroline worrying about the party or how her outfit was making her look bloated. "Classic Caroline," she said as they approached the blonde of the house, who wasn't looking so blonde.

Her makeup had been dramatically dark but it was appropriate for the character. Caroline's eyes were bluer than usual, maybe with the stark difference of black hair seemingly coming from her scalp. The two besties hugged and kissed each other lightly. Bonnie was still holding Caroline's shoulders, marveling at her black dress. Oh, she had Mrs. Addams down pact.

"Klaus, can you be a dear and go get the Bacardi from Bonnie's car?" Caroline asked. He nodded. "Thank you, husband." The blonde teased, and he turned around smirking, "Anything for you, my love."

Caroline giggled watching her boyfriend retreat from them. She then remembered Bonnie was standing right there with a black bag in her hand.

"Oh, bitch is that your costume," She tugged at it. "You haven't told anyone - not even _Elena_ what you're going as." She maybe teased the Elena part, those two being closer always bothered her.

"Be careful where you put your hands, Care." Bonnie pulled the bag closer with a playful smile. "There's essentials in here."

"Fine, but at least let me hang it up in a spare closet."

"Spare closet? Yeah, I'm definitely going with you. One, because your nosy hands are not to be trusted and two, because this is a bomb ass house."

The blonde held her hands up in the air. She wouldn't be seeing Bonnie in her costume until after the performance. They briefly talked about plans for the night while going to go hang Bonnie's hidden costume up. For the first 45 minutes, Caroline and Klaus would stand as one outside, displaying their married union welcoming guests in. Of course, it would be super weird and dark since the two would be doing contradictory actions that signaled that this wasn't the time for guests.

"So, have you heard from our third friend?" Saying Elena's name was harder than Bonnie thought it would be.

Caroline sighed, as she and Bonnie continued their walk around the empty but wildly decorated mansion. "No, you know she wanted no parts with any of this," The blonde held her hands up, waving them around the place. "All Elena seems to care about these days is her career and her boyfriend. God, I need a drink." She placed her hands on Bonnie's shoulders, shaking them slightly.

"When is my play husband is going to bring back the liquor?"

Bonnie put a finger to her own lips. "I think you two might drop that 'play' title soon."

Caroline scoffed, "Oh, please, me committed? You've got to be out of your mind. My man is fine though."

Before leaving to go rehearse Bonnie gave a few words that made the blonde rethink her whole stance on the marriage debacle.

"Any man that survives the Caroline Forbes specially planned party is a candidate for her hand in marriage."

* * *

Bonnie raised her eyebrows at the things Caroline listed. In that 45 minutes to an hour her objectives would be way different. The stage would be set up while the dancers rehearsed in one of the vast bedrooms upstairs. After that the mansion should be in full swing, giving them the perfect audience to capitalize off of.

"Hello, Bonnie!" The man pulled her in giving her quick pecks on the cheek. She gave a weak smile. He moved a stray hair out of her vision. "Ooh, I like. It might be a bit too much for when we're dancing though." Bonnie shrugged, "Where's Mike? I hope he won't have too much of a problem with it."

"Sweetie, I _am_ Mike."

Bonnie almost jaw-dropped. This flamboyant man couldn't be the singer's manager. The way he talked over text wasn't correlating to what she was seeing now. She gulped and was subsequently led to the other girls who were going over the routine. They stopped when they saw Bonnie and restarted their dance from the beginning. Suppressing an eye roll, Bonnie followed the routine just as she was practicing with them all afternoon. Proving people's doubts wrong was one of her favorite pastimes.

They rehearsed for a good hour, so the party had begun by then. All Bonnie could focus was on her dancing and being able to stay on track with the other girls. Though the dancers had to be on-time, the singer - a coked out mess - was not. Mike went ballistic when his artist showed up completely intoxicated. They were a B list at best and wasn't the best at keeping their shit under wraps.

"It's ruined..." Mike trailed off and then screamed, "That 150k is gone. Poof! Because you can't stay fucking sober, Sir!"

Yes, his name was Sir. Bonnie raised a brow in confusion; the situation wasn't completely lost.

"Just lip sync, I'm sure you all have some pre-recorded vocals."

Mike turned around sharply to walk towards Bonnie. She kept a confident stature but was fearing him to yell at her. The idea was way controversial but she wanted to dance onstage and gain some exposure. Some inconsistent singer wasn't going to ruin that for her. Mike cradled her face, smiling like he was staring at gold.

"God, she is so brilliant and talented. Everyone clap for Bonnie, she's saving the show," He faux whispered, "And my checking account." Everyone laughed and clapped. Bonnie sighed in relief feeling a wave of celebratory energy pour into her. It took 30 more minutes to tweak the stage for their new plan. When the time Caroline introduced Sir to the audience and he walked out while the dancers sauntered right behind him.

The partygoers were already drunk, screaming and flailing around. Bonnie closed her eyes pre-performance, saying a silent prayer. She quickly scanned the crowd and noticeably saw Caroline and Klaus in all their dark glory waving at her. She could have sworn she saw Elena but pretended it wasn't her, her dancing was so much better when she didn't have overpowering thoughts interfering with it.

Bonnie was totally into the routine, dropping with the right beats when necessary. The dancer's outfits, in general, weren't so modest but it was comfortable enough to dance in. Hip-hop was her expertise in the art of dance, so of course, she succeeded. Maybe she succeeded too much because she ended up having a mini duo dance with Sir with himself. He wasn't much of a dancer but he rocked side to side with his arms closed while Bonnie broke out in a whole solo she made on the spot.

Luckily, just the outro was playing to the song so he couldn't be accused of not singing for real. Bonnie twirled around, flipped her hair and whined fluidly all at once. For a final move, she bent over, putting her finger over her lips, lightly biting it and sauntered out with the other girls. She did not look back once nor did she want to, looking back meant regret and she was firm in her actions.

She walked back into party population being smiled and cheered for and practically was pushed to Caroline who gave her an overbearing hug. There was an unusual smell on the party hostess.

"Um, Care is that what I think it is."

Caroline giggled loudly, "Okay, maybe a joint got passed around while you were on stage dancing."

Bonnie shook her head, with a gleeful laugh. She grabbed Caroline's hand and walked them over to Klaus who was holding a red cup, talking to two other men. They were both brunettes. One's hair was more of a chestnut brown and hair was styled spikier. The other one was wearing a full-on wig, he had some scruff and she assumed that he was the oldest.

"Oh, Bonnie let me not be rude. These are my brothers - Kol and Elijah, taking apart of this silly holiday."

"Hey!" Caroline interjected, "Nothing I plan is ever silly." Klaus took a step away from his brother to be more closer to his raven-haired girlfriend. He snugly placed his hand around her clothed waist. "I suppose, my woman put her all into this event," The two of them looked around at the decorations and people living their best lives drinking and dancing.

"Well, that she did," Elijah spoke up. "I'm Elijah," He reached out to shake Bonnie's hand. She returned the same level of generosity by stating her name and smiling while doing so. He didn't forget to compliment her costume. He told her he was dressed as a pirate because she couldn't stop eyeing his hair.

The next brother came next. While Elijah's introduction had been more controlled and proper, Kol's was not. It was no secret that he was undressing her with his eyes. Everything from Bonnie's bronze skin, her apple green eyes, and even her curvy short body type intrigued him. Watching her express herself onstage had been more of a reason for Bonnie to be easier on the brain as she was on the eyes. There was more than just a pretty face and a nice ass.

"Kol, Mikaelson. I love seeing a woman going after what she wants and you craved that solo part more than the other dames on that damn stage."

"Well, thank you. I love when men analyze me like I'm some project to be turned in." Kol smirked, she knew he was playing a certain game. Her guard was completely up even as the two of them held their exigent stare.

"Oh, don't hold her up, she has to go get dressed. Remember: Costumes are mandatory." Caroline interjected over Klaus's shoulder.

"Oh," Kol chuckled. "So, this _isn't_ the costume. Please wow me even more than you have already, Bonnie."

She gracefully bowed out and began heading up the stairs. The caramel skinned woman was scared out of her mind when she saw a taller female in a latex suit in the room where her costume was in. Bonnie jumped, bringing the unknown's woman identity to light.

"Oh, please it's just me."

Bonnie sighed, being glad once in her life to hear Katherine's condescending voice. She continued grabbing her clothes out the bag. "So, what brings you to a spare room in a Halloween party?" Bonnie asked, deciding that if she was going to be in the room with the woman dressed up as Catwoman, she'd make some conversation.

"Honestly? I saw my ex, who I asked Caroline specifically not to invite," Katherine gritted, getting mad with the blonde all over again. Bonnie pursed her lips not wanting to say why Damon was invited. Of course, it was for superficial reasons and his presence had absolutely nothing to do with his character.

"You don't deserve that."

Katherine looked confused. Her and Bonnie having a heart to heart were unheard of. She wasn't Elena; soft and gooey was never going to be her thing. She eyed Bonnie trying to put on her jewelry.

"Need help?" Bonnie didn't even get a chance to answer before she heard Katherine's heels clank over to come to help her. She said a quiet 'thank you' to the twin. it was peculiar she had already spent more time with someone who tolerated her for Elena than the latter herself. She hummed while Katherine wrapped the other gold piece around her shoulder. Katherine had to admit the snake as a design was a nice touch.

"You don't have to do this."

"Oh, I know. However, showing an act of kindness lessens the amount of money I'll spending on botox in my 30s to keep my youthful face for as long as I can."

"So glad I don't have to worry about things like that," Bonnie quipped.

Katherine led Bonnie to the bathroom mirror showing off her final look. She was wearing a blue two-piece suit, the bottom was a long skirt with a daring slit while the top showed her pierced golden bellybutton jewelry with a healthy amount of cleavage. Her hairpiece was encrusted in jewels once again and Katherine had touched up her makeup. Bonnie was now set to walk out.

"Now this is hot," Katherine said, taking in the girl's appearance. Her compliment didn't faze her much as she just nodded. "Okay," the twin spoke up again. "You go down the left stairwell and I'll go down the right."

"Left? Hell, no. And do you really want to walk back into the party at the same time as me?"

Katherine crossed her arms, "Fine, I'll go down first. And don't take that literally," she said with a wink. Bonnie wanted to retch at the thought of even attempting to initiate sex with Katherine. "Just go, please."

The woman shrugged before walking out the room and said nonchalantly, "I guess that came from the wrong twin's lips."

Bonnie frowned and waited about five minutes before making her official entrance to the living room. She eyed her surroundings while descending the steps. She heard cheers and whistles from people from the party, kickstarting her confidence once again. Kol happened to be one of them. He held his hand out formally walking her back to the main population.

...

"You have wowed me 10 times over, Miss Bonnie," Kol swooned, looking over her side drinking her royal appearance in.

"I'm said to be an overachiever in that aspect."

"Let me get you a drink."

Bonnie froze; she could get her own damn drink. She wasn't too trusting of men even if Kol seemed to be an awful flirt. Releasing herself from his hold she stormed off into the kitchen. Kol was left dumbfounded, he hadn't even said or did anything that crude to warrant her response.

"Hey," he called out, pushing drunk partygoers to get to Bonnie. "What's your damage?"

"I just wanna fix my own damn drink is that okay? Women can still do that, I hope."

He laughed, "Okay, if you want to make a simple nice party courtsey political be my guess. You'll know where to find me." Then with that, he walked back over where his brothers and Caroline were conversating at. Caroline was leaning on the speaker, looking bored out of her mind. Elijah was talking, so her actions made sense to Bonnie.

Bonnie meddled through the dancefloor and found herself being pulled by Katherine. The woman in the catsuit had a dance partner - Luke. Bonnie swallowed, that only meant Liv was here. She silently prayed that they would never crossroads.

"Come, on bitch dance," Luke yelled over the music. "I saw you up there giving Sir the moves."

Katherine giggled and grabbed Bonnie's hands wailing them side to side. "Teach us something, Miss Professional."

"You guys I-" Bonnie started but was caught off guard when she saw Stefan and Elena. They had on the costumes she suggested, bringing her vision to life. It was a slap in the face to see them look so paired well together. So much for her smooth night, avoiding that many people weren't good for her health.

"Girl, what are you staring at?"

Bonnie readjusted the jewels on her head. "Nothing, uh my hair seemed," she coughed and finished, "Crooked."

Katherine rolled her eyes and stopped her dancing with some guy on the dancefloor. He had curly brown hair and small even eyes. Apparently, he was supposed to Indiana Jones. "Bonnie coughs whenever she's nervous or lying. Right now both of those things are hitting her tenfold." The brunette squinted to what Bonnie may have been looking at - her sister and her boyfriend.

Katherine smirked, devilish thoughts clouding her mind and suggested that Bonnie should go say hi. Bonnie couldn't challenge the girl on it as there were people around. Had the sneaky twin known more about their situation beyond reasonable suspicion? Yes, Elena may have not been angry at Bonnie supposedly but that didn't keep her from talking.

Bonnie was the one she trusted the most and that was breached when she allowed Stefan to stick his tongue down her throat. Other things could have been stuck but they stopped before it got too out of control. The deity dressed woman took a long breath and walked straightly across the room. She heard an incoming argument as she walked away.

"I have no dance partner now that you're over there with the beasty boy."

"Hey!" The guy yelled out.

"Oh, Mason please hit him I dare you, I'll have you escorted out of here."

 _Bonnie Bennett, you can go say hello to a very monogamous and clearly in love couple without any ill will feelings about it._

On the way over to them, she bumped into a busybody.

"Hey watch the suit!" Bonnie was going to apologize until she saw who it was. Matt Donovan in all of his cocky glory. It was the worst kind of cocky. Not even the sexy type she liked in certain guys. He was dressed as a sailor. She gritted her teeth at the very connection of his voice and face. Bonnie hated Matt's guts.

"If it isn't Elena Gilbert's guardian angel," He exclaimed.

"Just stay out of my way," Bonnie said brushing past him.

Once again she walking straightly and with purpose. Talking to Elena wouldn't be so awkward if they had Matt to verbally egg on. Elena looked flawless, she had the short wavy blonde wig, along with Marilyn's iconic red lipstick and a faux beauty mark. Elena had pearls around her neck and also on her wrist. She also wore a black tube top dress with a white fur going over her shoulders. The colors were very contrasting and Bonnie loved everything about it.

Being drawn to Elena first had been one of her instinct. Her eyes then scanned Stefan's framework. His hair was perfectly tousled from the front to the back. The grease or wax may have helped achieve that style. While Elena looked liked pure elegance, his clothes much like James Dean himself were effortless. Somehow Stefan made a leather jacket and jeans look high end.

She saw Elena whisper something to Stefan and then walked off, passing Bonnie by. However, Bonnie caught the girl's arm and stopped her from walking any further.

"Elena, you look amazing."

Her bestfriend smiled nicely, "So do you. It was nice seeing you but I think I want to dance, I really don't think I can take just standing any longer." Bonnie let her go, feeling defeated. "Of course, I'll see you around." Elena nodded and continued her pathway.

Bonnie crossed her arms and walked towards Stefan. They made eye contact before even speaking. To break up the tension, Bonnie coughed and said, "You look just like I imagined." He did, seeing her vision breathe and live right before she was astonishing. He was taller than Bonnie before but she was on a different platform than him.

She was dressed as a goddess and Stefan didn't want to look down at her so he reached his hand out, letting her up the small steps. When they were on the same level the same hand was pulling her close to him. She was lost looking at his physique.

"So you have been thinking about me?" He whispered in her ear.

"I-" Bonnie took a step back, she saw a curly blonde looking at her. "Excuse me," she walked past him to approach Liv head-on. Her conversation with Stefan was going to be cut even though she wanted to talk to him longer. Bonnie didn't like being snuck up on and if her old girlfriend wanted to cause a scene she'd nip it right in the bud.

"Wow, my old flame," Liv slowly clapped, looking at Bonnie head to toe. "You were always hot."

Bonnie tried to suppress an eyeroll. "Come with me."

Liv and Bonnie stood across from each other. Bonnie's stare was stern while Liv's was playful. She wanted something and Bonnie was going to sniff it out.

"What are you up to?"

Liv circled around the deity dressed woman, practically bouncing with joy and replied, "Princess Elena who can do no wrong isn't attached to your hip tonight," she moved behind Bonnie and touched her shoulder. She slightly shuddered at the contact even after all that time being that close to her ex was unnerving.

"But you're swooning over her boyfriend," Liv continued, "I really thought you were one of us."

Bonnie stood tall as she could with her arms firmly crossed. "Well, I'm bi, so I never was."

"You weren't saying bye when I was between your legs."

Bonnie crinkled her nose in disgust not at all pleased with the blonde's pun. Suddenly, she turned around and fiercely said, "This isn't about me choosing sides-"

"Yadda, yadda sexuality is a spectrum," Liv who rolled her eyes cut the short woman off. "But shouldn't best friend's boyfriend be off limits?"

"You have no idea what you saw, I'm leaving."

Liv watched Bonnie walkout the room, her skirt wildly move side to side. God, she was curvy as ever. She bit her lip. Bonnie had said nothing but yet her body language said everything. The small woman reeked of guilt, it made her uncomfortable because there was a rift between her and Elena. And Liv was going to make that rift between the get even more apparent, it was sickly sweet revenge.

Luke got a text from Liv telling him to get a select group of people to play never have I ever. Luckily, everyone she mentioned was from Katherine's circle so he wasn't too out of place. Meanwhile the other sat around the kitchen in anticipation. Damon was the last person to walk up and Katherine looked like she was going vomit.

"We don't you to play," Katherine said, shooting daggers at him with her eyes.

He sat down in a chair and crossed his legs, "Oh Kit Kat don't be bitter. A party doesn't truly begin until I walk in."

"Oh, Damon, king of sucking his own cock," Klaus said, making his presence known. Almost everyone snickered while Damon snarled. He'd get the Brit later on. Luke cleared his throat and asked if everyone was ready to play, his eyes scanned Bonnie's expression. She was playing it cool for the most part.

"Never have I ever tongue kissed a girl," Luke pursed his lips, "Well without my consent."

All the guys drank and then Bonnie drunk, throwing the shot to the back of her head. The quicker the better. She quickly avoided anyone's eye contact.

"Oh, what the hell?" Katherine drank too, she wouldn't let Bonnie suffer that much. Caroline just looked concerned for her friend. Sure, she dabbled in drugs tonight but she could never fathom that sort of girl on girl action.

"Um, Bonnie are you okay?" She asked worriedly.

Klaus elbowed her making her shut up, "We don't judge love," he told his girlfriend in a low voice. Caroline brushed herself off and announced she'd declare the next one. Bonnie eyes flickered to Elena, who gave her a pity smile. She was sitting on Stefan's lap, quietly staking her claim.

"Never have I ever been pussy or dick whipped."

"You sure about that, Blondie?" Damon asked.

She scoffed, "I'm sure. Just because you're used to women falling at your feet doesn't mean anything."

"Why does it even have to be in those terms," Elena stated. "If you're in love, you're in love. Nothing else matters except for that person."

"Says the person who's in a happy relationship," Katherine said, looking at her stiletto nails. Elena didn't respond directly but her eyes were glaring at her twin. She finally replied, "You're bitter." Damon snickered, pleased with his brother's girlfriend flippant mouth. Anyone against Katherine was an ally of his.

"And you're _blinded_."

No one was drinking and they had only got through one round just barely. Kol walked towards Bonnie and nudged her, "Your people are manic." She just gave a non-verbal agreement. Elena just had to make a simple question problematic.

"Okay," Damon said loudly, "We can officially start over or just drop the game."

"Drop the game, it was childish, to begin with," Stefan spoke up.

Everyone seemed to agree and some of them even dispersed from the kitchen. Caroline went over to Damon and nudged him painfully. He yelped in pain and whined Caroline's name. She moved them to the side and said in a hushed tone, "You ruined the game with your dumbass comments. I invited you because of your connects who are seemingly not here! All you've done is start shit."

He sighed, "Okay what if I told you I'd been dropped from the agency for 6 months now."

"What? No, you told me you were still working."

"I told you I was getting fewer jobs now because I had been dropped by the agency."

Caroline threw her hands up in there and walked away, she had been bamboozled by Damon Salvatore. This party was becoming his social playground when it should have been hers, to begin with. She then pulled Katherine to the side and spread the information along. It wasn't news to the twin particularly.

"I'll tell you why he got dropped if you kick him out of here in a very embarrassing way." Katherine offered with a smirk.

"I wish I could but I can't, can't you just tell me so I can use it against him later?"

"My lips are sealed."

"Fine, but you can at least tell me what's been going on with Elena."

Katherine looked over at the group in the kitchen at her sister, at Stefan, and then at Bonnie. "I think there's something going on with her and Stefan. And Bonnie has a hand in it."

"Oh, god," Caroline said, placing her hand over her heart and began to look behind her. Katherine put both her hands over the girl's shoulder and eyed her long black extensions.

"You may have switched up your hair tonight but you sure do have the spirit of a blond."

"I swear if someone else has something to say about me being blonde-" Caroline ran her fingers through her raven hair frustratedly. She really needed to steady her thoughts and process the information Katherine gave her. The two of them knew next to nothing about the three of them so all there talk was being charred up from assumptions.

"We weren't there so what are your theories, anti-twin?"

"So glad you asked," Katherine responded, shaking her curly brown locks. "When I went over Stefan's house 3 weeks ago, he and Bonnie seemed awfully chummy."

"Chummy as in?"

Katherine rolled her eyes, " _Friendly_ , they looked too friendly. They even looked way too friendly tonight and suddenly I see Elena leaving Bonnie's side to come dance with me and Luke. When has Elena ditched Bonnie to spend time with me?"

Caroline crossed her arms reflecting on it, she was making points. Katherine saw that she was making progress to get the natural blonde to join her team of suspicion. She took that as an opportunity to spice up her handcrafted theory even more.

"So, Elena being Elena was too trusting of Bonnie and of Stefan to a certain extent. Let's say she got sent home early and instead of going home to go shower my lovestruck sister decides to go to her boyfriend's house first and wham she sees her boyfriend railing her best friend on the couch."

"Cute theory," Caroline said confidently, "But Bonnie would never do that. Like ever."

"You looked like you were going to shit your pants when you found out she kissed girls before, please," Katherine uttered in a chastising voice. Caroline didn't reply but the theory got her thinking. Disregarding Katherine she mindless walked back over to the group. When she got back, Bonnie was leaving or just going to the bathroom. It surprised her when Elena got up following right behind her, leaving Stefan in the seat without hesitating.

Bonnie didn't have to pee or anything she just wanted to look in the mirror. Fix her hair or her makeup for a select few minutes and slowly return to the party. She placed her hand over her chest when she saw Elena leaning over the doorframe.

"I don't know if I said this but you really do look great tonight," She told Bonnie.

"Thank you," The woman in jewels replied lowly.

"I wanted to talk to you that is if you're rushing to get back to the party," Elena said the last part with a careless shrug. She knew Bonnie wasn't too eager to go back to the party. There had been nothing too wrong with her appearance and she sped off to the bathroom. Bonnie nodded and they walked in a vacant room. It had been the same empty room she ran into the other twin and Liv taunted her in.

"I'm sorry for resenting you," Elena began. "After all we've been through and what you've done for me, you don't deserve that and I was selfish."

"You didn't text or call me once," Bonnie said, feeling hurt at the lack of communication for the last few weeks from her best friend.

Liv ears perked up, thank God for the right timing. She had checked in with Luke shortly after the disastrous end of the game. It was exactly what she expected. Them not getting more than one question was comical. Luke wasn't sure of his sister's intentions as he debriefed what happened but family came before all so he did what she asked of him. The curly blonde's suspicions were being quenched, she pulled out her phone and started recording audio from her phone and ran down the stairs.

"I was upset and couldn't tell the person I vent to the most about it. And I couldn't tell anyone else because they wouldn't understand or they would judge."

"I see," Bonnie looked down. "So, ignoring me was better for you. There have been countless times where you have affected me in ways I can't explain and I still find the courage to talk to you."

"I- I didn't know that," Elena stuttered, looking at Bonnie's disposition. "I just wanted to ask what was going through your mind?"

"When?"

"When you and Stefan kissed. Both times."

This was a hard ass question but it only had one answer. "You."

"I don't get it."

"When we kissed in your...kitchen we were talking about how I had been scared of losing you."

"Oh, Bonnie," She said, grabbing her hands and assuring her, "You're not getting rid of me. Ever. I promise this ends between us tonight...but if you don't mind me asking about the second time?"

"The second time I got know him more, he saved my life and suddenly we were roommates. I found out a lot about Stefan; he's considerate, perceptive, passionate and cultured and if you squint he's funny."

Elena smiled, "Well, mission accomplished; you like him."

"Ugh, please don't tell me this was your plan all along."

They both laughed, feeling a huge weight being lifted off their shoulders. Bonnie felt like she could breathe again, maybe it was time to really to divulge her longest secret.

"Truth is, I don't think my feelings for him could encompass the ones I'll always have for you."

"You," Elena softened, "Bonnie you remember when we-"

"Yep, back in grade school."

"Oh, God I am so clueless," She spun around in circles. Her best friend was in love with her and now she knew. Their kiss at a sleepover occurred in her mind. Bonnie said she'd never kissed anyone so Elena gave her lessons for a while without the kissing part. When they actually did kiss, she said it was strictly for practice and never thought twice if it meant more. Clearly, it affected her best friend the greatest.

"Elena it's okay, I've kept it buried so long. This long," She breathed in and out and continued, "I feel so free now."

Tears welled up in Bonnie's eyes, she chuckled and wiped them off. Her dramatic but gorgeous eye make up would run down her face in black streaks. "Why the hell am I crying?"

"Because, like you said, you feel free," Elena said, pulling her in a hug. Bonnie smiled, shutting her eyes shut in Elena's warm embrace. No one could take this moment away from them. From Bonnie, she needed this to be with her best friend even for a few fleeting moments. They pulled away and smiled at each other and it quickly turned into laughter. Elena playfully hit Bonnie's shoulder.

"I bet you I'm a better kisser than him."

"Ah, well I really can't compare a 10-year-old kiss to one that was more recent."

Elena smirked and dared, "Fine, let's do a recent one."

Before Bonnie could object Elena's silly statement she felt her lips pressed inside of hers in a saccharine kiss. The former cheerleader had always been extroverted and competitive and that had only been awakened now. Not even the sweetest candy cane could compare to her lips. Elena had to bend over a little to kiss Bonnie even deeper before and it felt unbelievably good. They took a pause and Elena began to say, "See, I told you-"

She was being pushed against the wall and let Bonnie's tongue invade her mouth recklessly shutting her up. This kiss was 10 years in the making and if this night was the only time it would ever happen the bronze beauty would make it last. Mid-kiss, Elena reached over to slam the door, realizing they kissed right when it was open and for any prying eyes to see.

Bonnie was kissing Elena's neck, glad to be hearing her helpless moans. Bonnie thought she could be highly sensitive but Elena took the cake, the girl could barely suppress her pleasure. Hopefully, the music drowned her sounds out. "Mmm," she moaned, "what do you want me to do?" Elena asked since she felt like she was giving nothing yet this was all Bonnie ever wanted.

"Keep your hands on my body, touch whatever you think is pleasing to me."

Elena nodded and felt bliss when Bonnie put her mouth back on her neck again. She practically pulled the small girl into her skin moving the both of them further in the wall. Bonnie's lips started to brush along Elena's clavicle. Her chest heaved as she leaned into the wall, letting Bonnie keep her tongue taste her skin.

The woman in the black dress realized she was being less giving to the actual goddess under her yet again. She widened her eyes and then cupped Bonnie's crotch. Her underwear had been damp and now they stared at one another both being aware of her arousal. "You want this badly," Elena said in a daring voice.

Bonnie snatched Elena's hand from in between from her legs. Which was a shame because she enjoyed attention there. She then pinned both of Elena's hands above her hand. Bonnie spoke, "We're going to leave those up there because when I give you an inch, you take a mile." Elena's breath hitched at her best friend's demanding tone. Breaking up their heated stare she licked Bonnie's lips and kissed her again using her head since her arms were useless.

The hem of her dress was being hiked up by Bonnie herself. She had no choice but to see before her own eyes what her friend's small fingers could do. Sharply, a digit went inside of Elena. She couldn't limit herself she cried out, no screamed because Bonnie's finger felt that satisfying. Elena went into a frezy when she finally orgasmed.

 _Bonnie, oh my..._

...

While they were gone, the party still resumed. There just wasn't much dancing. Liv went by Luke who was near Katherine and her date. She had ran from downstairs so her chest was heaving. He placed his hand on her shoulder, "Sis, you okay?" She nodded rapidly, Luke talked too much he couldn'y know of her plan. Katherine raised an eyebrow because she remembered Bonnie going to the second floor but decided to leave it alone.

"Where's Elena?" She asked out loud.

"She went upstairs, apparently had to go use the washroom as if there;s something wrong with the one down here," Stefan answered but knew his girlfriend went to make up with Bonnie. He wouldn't stop her from mending her and Bonnie's friendship. Matt was still in his vicinity since they were all in the kitchen together.

"Man, I think Bonnie went to follow her."

Liv turned to face Matt, wanting to interject so badly. She knew for sure it was the other way around. Could he too be planning revenge? While the false statement was a great way to start, she would be crafting plans not him. At the same time, she didn't want to cause suspcion of herself.

"She definetly didn't, man," Kol replied, annoyed with the sailor. "Bonnie left first to accomodate her makeup. Not that she needed to."

"She does look great tonight," Caroline said, thinking about her bestfriend had been the best dressed of the night. "Everyone let's toast to my bestfriend, Bonnie.," she exclaimed holding her red cup. She drank and everyone followed soon after. Well, everyone except for Matt and he knew the lady being cheered for would like it that way too. He turned to Stefan, bringing the past topic up,

"All I'm saying either way, they both went upstairs together did they not?"

"Sure," Stefan replied curtly, mentally cursing himself for even giving Matt attention.

"You know, Bonnie did this a bunch of times back in college when Me and Elena were together."

"Elena and I," Stefan corrected, he could get petty.

"Sure, whatever same difference. I'm just seeing a pattern with them here, Bonnie barely leaves Elena's side, it's the reason why we broke up if you didn't know."

"Well, Elena doesn't speak of you so no, I didn't know."

Katherine had to clutch her pearls at the interaction of the males and nudged Luke who was already on it. If something happened he'd be the first one to record. Damon chuckled and then went near his brother saying if something was going to down he would be there. Stefan didn't seem that worried, some kid on a former scholorship wasn't going to faze him. Matt looked like he was going for blood.

"You're not going to blame that Bonnie," Caroline defended her friend, "You were a lousy, cheating boyfriend."

Matt drank from his red cup, "Or maybe your friend is obessessed with being always there for Elena."

"What does that mean?" Liv asked innocently, drawing herself farthest away from Bonnie as possible. She believed she was being very convincing since Katherine's prying eyes weren't on her anymore and was way focused that was brewing right before her. Matt stood up, finding away to end this conversation once and for all.

"Means that Bonnie is a man-hating dyke."

Everyone gasped, and it was probably for the best the blonde ex-footballer ended up getting up with the intention to walk away. Liv definetly wanted to sock him in the face for even saying that at all and then againist Bonnie. Matt didn't get to blame his relationship ending with Elena with all lesbians. She really wanted to say more but opted for calling him an ass.

Stefan just vibrated silent an angering intensity, one Damon knew too well. His blue eyes carefully watched Stefan's movements. Pissed was an understatement. Bonnie was undoubtedly very protective of her bestfriend but in this in moment that protection could not even measure up to the protection Stefan was giving Bonnie herself. He stood up to follow Matt.

Damon began to get up too but Klaus stopped him and said, "Let him do this."

"Say that again, I dare you," Stefan said to Matt who turned around just to be punched in the jaw. All the party people shrieked as the fight got in the middle of the front room. Caroline groaned, her decorations were being ruined. She turned to Klaus, "I know Matt deserves, but my decorations are being punished." He soothed her, patting her hair.

Katherine was panicking, not knowing how to compute what was happening. She knew she had to go alert her sister and she began running upstairs. In a rush, she ran past the room that Bonnie and Elena were in. For a moment she paused and fanned herself hoping she didn't get too sweaty. Then she saw a phone right outside a room and pocketed it. If she ws going to be Catwoman why not play true to the character to the very end.

She twisted the doorknob which was locked and began knocking.

"Bonnie or Elena, or both, Stefan and Matt are fighting. I think someone's calling the police," Katherine annouced shakily.

Elena said that they'd be out in a minute. Her sister sounded scared and that was almost enough to knock off the high of her releasing her peak. She touched her neck and pushed her dress down and shared a look with Bonnie, who nodded and opened the door. Katherine was waving her hand in front of her own face, preventing herself to sweat and look calm under pressure.

...

The fight had been over when they finally went downstairs and 3 officers were downstairs. Everyone had started to clear out including Liv - phoneless. She prayed that Katherine had not gotten it. The poilice were alerted of the fight and the noise. They quickly found out the mansion was rented and how much of a spectacle the fight was. Only ones that close to Matt knew what he said to warrant Stefan's response.

Bonnie looked worriedly at Stefan as he talked to the police. She just wanted to know if he was okay. Matt did use to play football and that's a contact sport, he had picked up all kinds of tricks over the years. Kol tapped her on the shoulder, "We're heading out, I just wanted to say my goodbye." She nodded amd gave him a hug.

"Thanks for coming out," She told him as they released.

"Likewise. Despite all the crap tonight you still look-"

"Kol, come on," Elijah called out; police made him wary.

"Excuse me, I have to go with my stick in the mud brother," He paused and turned to face her . "Caroline will give you my number."

"Kol, what does that mean? Kol!"

He shrugged and smirked leaving her calls unanswered. Elena went up to Bonnie after watching her and Kol's interaction. She woudln't ask questions or do anything that implied a modicum of jealousy, she found out Bonnie loved her tonight and that's all that mattered. Pretending like Kol wasn't trying to put the moves on her Bonnie was what she was going to do.

"So, Matt isn't pressing charges, thank God, but Stefan is really tired so I'm just gonna go with him."

"Can I go too?"

"Of course you can. He was asking about you anyway," Elena revealed the last part reluctantl. That only meant she was certain the fight was over Bonnie. Though her and Bonnie had their tryst upstairs she was still reminded of her boyfriend's unrelentings feelings for her. Katherine watched how Bonnie and Elena treaded out of the house and she knew oe thing for sure - there was way more to the picture she was conjuring in her head.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Happy Pride Month!**

* * *

Chapter 8: She Owns Me

Bonnie sighed as she styled her own hair in the mirror. A simple braid-out would keep her hair curly enough without any crazy product. It was the day after the party when she impulsively chose to follow her best friend and her boyfriend out of the party. The optics of all three of them leaving was peculiar, to say the least. As her feet walked across the threshold she could sense Caroline's nosy fingers texting her to see what was going on. Now she had to put her phone on do not disturb mode all weekend long.

Fluffing up her hair once more, she walked out of the washroom to see no one at all. Of course, they were in the other room and she poked her head out to see the door firmly shut. Multiple things went down last night and they needed time to discuss that. Luckily, she had an old pair pajamas in her dresser in the guest room that she could easily slip into. Her choice of passing time was checking out what was on TV. After 30 minutes of half-watching a mid-tier sitcom rerun she powered off the monitor out of complete boredom

 _Sunday morning programs suck..._ The dancer conceded as she looked at her newly painted toes.

"Hey, he wants to see you." Bonnie's head flips around to see the woman across from her.

Elena stands with her arms crossed with an expressionless face. When Bonnie walks past her, they bump shoulders and share a smile. Then she tiptoed into the room. Her light walking was due to her anxious state from last night. The fight had been allegedly over her and she was starting to believe the rumors. The last thing she needs is guilt no matter how badly she wanted to be punished with it. He's holding a frozen bag of peas over his right eye while his back his faced to the door. She wonders if he positioned himself strategically. The woman checked out his back numerous times, sometimes openly, other times she tried to play it off.

Bonnie closed the door behind her so she can break the even silence in the room.

"Oh, hey," He turns around and removes the bag from his eye. "Totally didn't want you to see me like this, but my hand was getting tired."

"I'm so sorry that you had to go through that. Matt is just the worst kind of human being," Bonnie concluded without using multiple swear words.

"I'm fine and I could care less about him. Think I messed up his pretty Ken Doll face for a while though," He joked to lighten the mood.

"At the cost of him potentially damaging yours."

"You think I'm pretty?"

Bonnie rolled her eyes, failing to hide her smile. "Forget that I even said it."

"You can't call someone pretty and just take it back," He stated.

"I certainly can when said person can't take the compliment humbly."

Stefan sat down on the very end of the bed. Standing across Bonnie made him feel so small ironically. Her smart comments, her attitude, and style had been too powerful for him. He wanted to tell her how much she made him nervous over and over again all while pumping into her furiously. Sometimes, he wanted to take his time with her, other times he just thought about ravishing her completely.

"So, why did you decide to leave with Elena last night?"

"I care about you a lot, you're my friend and you would have done the same for me."

"I saw you with Kol at the party," he lamely said.

" _And_?" Whatever he was planning to say better had a valuable point.

"You two looked awfully comfy." His jaw was tensing.

"Does that bother you?"

"Not at all," he replied shortly.

"You seem to be in your feelings about it and if you are I'd suggest you'd get over it."

Stefan stood up and approached her with a smoldering gaze. Bonnie was shaking slightly at the proximity of their bodies. Luckily, they were both modestly dressed. Hid wifebeater clinging onto his toned physique was already enough to send her in a frenzy. She never dressed too comfortably but every now and then when she stayed there she wore shorts. Her shape was short and curvy, she always wanted to hide her figure because of her childhood trauma of looking older than what she was despite being a little girl.

"If the night hadn't gone to hell, you wouldn't even know of his existence. You would have been right beside me," Stefan said, his forest green eyes piercing in Bonnie's.

Their standoff and another smart remark coming from Bonnie's mouth is interrupted by a light knock and open of the door. Stefan lets out an annoyed grunt while Bonnie closes her eyes because he was still caressing her face. It made her feel hot and uneasy. He looks up to see his girlfriend who was telling him his brother was there. His hand didn't immediately stop touching the woman in front of him. Elena knew of his feelings for Bonnie, so hiding it felt pointless. "We'll continue this conversation later," he tells her intimately in her ear.

Stefan brushed past Elena and headed out the door, she was the one who locked it. Bonnie kept her hands at her side, she'd been caught.

"It's not what you think we-"

"Who do you like more?"

"That's an absurd question."

Elena sighed and circled while rubbing her hair in frustration. "You're right, it's just that I can't stop thinking about last night and then there's this juxtaposing image of you two slobbering over each other like a couple of dogs in heat."

"I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"No, all I can think about is you backing me up against a wall and my eyes spinning backward."

"I had so much pent up frustration for you. It was big or go home." _Shit, I can't believe I just said that._

Elena nodded in understanding. "Has there...been other girls? You don't even have to answer, I was just asking because what you did felt so _fucking_ good." _I never talk like this, what the hell is wrong with me_ , the brunette self-punished.

"Thank you," Bonnie said with an innocent smile.

Elena walked the short woman backward so that her back could hit her boyfriend's soft black comforter. The night before, she was the one being pushed to blunt surfaces. With a refreshed, sober mind, the brunette realized she could do the same. Bonnie's lips parted in anticipation as her best friend hovered over her. "Bonnie Bennett, you shouldn't be playing coy now that I know what you're capable of," Elena said lowly.

Right before she could kiss the caramel-skinned the woman, Bonnie puts a finger to her lips.

"This is your boyfriend's bed and you want to kiss me on it."

"Is that a problem?"

"It's inherently problematic," Bonnie said, staring at her friend's glossy lips, her thoughts and expressions betraying her morals.

"I think the three of us should just throw ethics to the wayside. We're all kind of fucked up."

Her hands shamelessly slide up the oversized shirt Bonnie is wearing and squeezed her breasts. The woman under her moaned faintly in response but it grew louder when Elena's left traveled down south. She was already burning up from her encounter with Stefan now Elena was shoving her hand beneath her waistband. Seeing Stefan hold her face like she was some porcelain doll and the way his lips touched Bonnie's ear drove Elena mad.

"He's gone, you don't have to hide in here anymore," Stefan calls out from the other side of the door.

Elena gritted her teeth. "Okay, we'll be out soon, Stef." The cutoff of his name was to show how annoyed she was. Bonnie felt dizzy but still stood up on her two feet. Elena takes a long breath and opens the door. She hopes Bonnie is sweating but after being pursued back-to-back, the dancer can't help her pores. The brunette leans against the door frame; Bonnie is near the couch; Stefan is teetering between the kitchen and living room.

"What did Damon want?"

"He was trying to be nosy, that's all," Stefan responds, rubbing his arm. "He saw you and Bonnie leave out with me. Truth is, my brother thinks there is something going on between us."

"There is and it has to stop," Bonnie speaks up, really for herself.

"It won't stop, you're way too damn infectious."

Bonnie put her hands over her ears and uttered nonsense while walking around in an endless circle.

"Bonnie, stop acting so childish," Elena tells her brashly, causing the short female to point a finger in her direction.s

"This isn't _normal_ at all! Nothing you two say will make think this is okay."

"I'm sorry, you're right this isn't right in the slightest but I know how you feel about me and I feel like a fool for not seeing it sooner," Elena said sincerely, while her thumb rubbed across Bonnie's face lovingly.

"I see," Stefan inquired, looking at the image before him. The two had a history and even new memories he couldn't hold a candle to. Whatever happened at the party affected them greatly and confessions were made. Now that the cat was out the bag, what would become of them all? Choices had to be made and quickly. Elena bent forward to plant a kiss on lips, planning to kiss her as she wanted in front of Stefan.

"You're overperforming," He notes before retreating back to his room, while Elena stops her actions and subsequently rolls her eyes.

"We haven't figured out what we should do," Bonnie reminded her

Elena grabbed both of her hands and said, "We'll still be us with the addition of oof kissing, moaning, and groping."

"And when we're in public?"

"We act like very mature adults."

"And Stefan?"

Elena squeezed her arm in assurance.

"We're still figuring him out, the boy just took a black eye for you. It's gonna take him a few days to get over it."

* * *

Two days passed and it's Monday morning again much to everyone's dismay. Bonnie left Stefan's the day after the party and ended back at her grandmother's. The old woman had her questions but kept them to herself. She saw how bonnie snickered to herself while reading texts on her phone. It could have been a girl or guy making her grandbaby smile so much and Grams thought she should put her politeness to the side and finally butt in. The two women are in the kitchen and the question is laid on boldly.

"Okay, child who is this making you less doom and gloom these days?" Grams added, "I know you looked too good going out the other day."

"I met someone, he's cool and wants to take me out this Saturday," Bonnie smoothly said. It isn't a lie completely, Kol did ask her out but she never agreed on a place.

"Well, I'm glad."

"The thing is, he sort of isn't the only person or people that I'm interested in."

"You're young it's bound to happen, have fun because you do not want to be shriveled and old wishing you could go back and not your waste your prime."

"You think I'm in my prime?' Bonnie asked, really wanting her answer.

"Of course you are," Grams groans in discomfort as she takes a platter of clean dishes out of the dishwasher. Bonnie left the kitchen counter to go assist her in drying them and putting them away. While handing her a glass to place in the high cabinet Grams makes a point. "Things like that prove these are your good years - flexibility. Along with your youth and beauty but your career is on the uprising. So, never limit yourself, the sky is limitless my sweet child."

Bonnie hugged her tight as she could and thanked her for her words of encouragement. Truthfully, she didn't know how badly a fuck-up her mother must have been to ever screw Grams over time and again.

..

Later on that night, she gets a call from Caroline, she only answered because she didn't want to look sketchy. Even though avoiding the socialite altogether was suspicious enough. The phone rang a reasonable amount for Bonnie to prepare herself for her friend's chirping on the other line. It wasn't that torturous when the blonde started rambling about the party and how bad the cleanup was.

"But you missy did not end up in someone's bed all sweaty, you looked like a goddess! Any man would have been blessed to enter your-"

"Well, no one ever got the chance with all the commotion going on downstairs," Bonnie slipped out, not thinking of the implications of her statement.

The other woman on the line gasped. Not her _Bonnie_ getting down and doing the dirty in a party setting.

"Bonnie Bennett, please tell me you did _not_ hook up with someone at my party!"

There is silence from her end but Bonnie is smirking - Caroline can imagine the girl hiding her blush.

"Who is it? I have to know about your first ever shameless party smash."

"It doesn't matter and like I said it didn't get too far with all the drama going on below us."

Caroline sighed, at this rate she wasn't going to get anything else from the dancer and chose to move on.

"Well," she sounded out. "If you aren't willing to talk about that then we have to talk about the fight especially since it was about you."

"I sort of figured." She popped her moisturized cherry flavored lips. "What'd he say to make Stefan pop off?"

"He didn't tell you? I..."

"You _what_ , Caroline?"

"You left with him and Elena, I just assumed in between that timeframe he would have told you." Before Bonnie could reply she questions hurriedly, "And what is up with that really, the three of you?"

Bonnie hears a beep on her phone, it's a text image or images from Caroline.

"Those are the three of you walking out together. Sorry for the pause I'm sort of at the gym, it's the top of the month and it's always bikini weather in Florida, so I'm trying to maintain my figure," she explained.

Bonnie removed her phone from her ear and scanned the pictures that looked professionally captured. It was right after the fight so people were clearing a way out for Stefan and Elena to leave. He looked extremely aggravated and in the first photo, it looked like Elena trying to comfort him. But the person behind them who was sort of skedaddling behind them was Bonnie. The next photo she's aligned with them while Stefan is in the middle and finally looked at ease.

"I'm not judging because you all look hot together," Caroline spoke. "

"There's nothing going on between us, I was just being a friend,"

"Sure because going back with them was friendly and appropriate."

"Caroline!"

"What? People talk and you said in one way or in another that you like to mess with girls, so it makes sense."

Bonnie placed a hand over her face. "I was forced into answering that. Besides, I am not the ruiner of happy homes."

"Please," Caroline scoffed."You're not ruining it hell you're probably making it better since Elena mentioned that the honeymoon phase was over." Something about her friend's deteriorating relationship made the blonde feel superior. Her tone was a little too ecstatic for Bonnie's liking.

"When was this?"

"Maybe last week or something. Point is, you've been a really bad girl, Bonnie!"

"I told you we're just friends and do you honestly think Elena into girls?"

"Not just any girl you could possibly make her go gay."

"You can't go gay," Bonnie muttered under her breath, dealing with that type of ignorance her whole life.

When Caroline asked her to repeat herself she just spoke her honest thoughts fully.

"No one can 'go gay' it's always there - you're simply born with it. It isn't a trend or something to partake in for fun. Queer people have been on earth too long for everyone to keep saying that. Elena isn't gay or bi, I can't make her do something she isn't interested in." She hears the blonde's now educated and goes back to the root of the conversation which was Matt.

"He said the 'D' word," Caroline quipped.

"Not the word I'm thinking of, right?" Bonnie gritted. "I can't believe him! I wasn't even in the same room and he wants to say that."

"I know it was awful - the entire party stopped. He looked like a complete psychopath, you were the star of the evening and he said that about you I just ugh- I hate it so much, you have no idea."

"Um, well, thanks for telling I can kinda see why Stefan wouldn't right away, I'll talk to you later, Care."

The blonde said her goodbyes and Bonnie hangs up and instantly calls Stefan - they had some talking to do.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: No Beggars Allowed

Bonnie was just downright furious after her phonecall with Caroline. She didn't want to waste any more time wondering what happened that night. She made a beeline out of her bedroom. Even her grandmother was taken aback by the whirlwind descending her steps. Grams was holding a clothes basket with her face contorted in confusion at her granddaughter in a navy blue jogging suit. It was humid from all the unstoppable raining earlier in the day.

"Uh, baby you sure you want to walk out the house? You're sure to burn up in that outfit."

Bonnie was inches from the door and made a sharp turn. "Grams, the only time you comment on my wardrobe is when I'm hardly wearing any clothes."

"Fine," The older woman sighed and set the clean clothes down on the first step and looked towards a vanished Bonnie.

Grams didn't know how to tap into Bonnie these days. She was an entirely different person most days, other times she was back to her assiduous self but then she would distance herself once again.

"That girl is a mystery," Grams hummed to herself.

Bonnie kept her foot firmly on the pedal. Her heart was racing even more so than the engine itself when she heard the thunder. Her destination was coming up on the left soon and she hoped Mother Nature wouldn't send a lightning bolt her way. Her tires made a screeching noise as she hit the brake and promptly put the car in park in Stefan's driveway

She was certain she was going to give him no, not a piece of it but her entire mind.

After three hard knocks, he opened the door to see Bonnie before him with her arms crossed.

"You could have told me," Bonnie said, her tone was stern.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Stefan replied from the partially closed door then his eyes followed the moving palm trees and the dark clouds. "It's about to storm, I don't think-"

"I don't give a fuck," Bonnie cut him off, shocking the both of them at the harsh delivery of her words. Truthfully, she was wary of the booming weather today.

"You kept this from me, that awful shit Matt said about me and everyone else heard it!"

"It's handled, you just need to let it go," He spoke carefully from behind the threshold. "He won't say anything about you again in life as long as I'm alive."

Bonnie sighed and put her hands overhead, pondering the finality of his sentence and circled, came back to face him so she could express her point. The only problem is that she can't look him in the eye. Those damned green eyes that had a way of seeing through her. It's been like that since that day in the kitchen. She was just being self-denying at this point.

"I don't need you protecting me, at least not anymore."

"Why?" Stefan challenged, closing the door and walking closer to Bonnie.

"Because you're not my boyfriend or anything of that nature, you're someone else's and I just have to find someone else to have for myself too."

"You don't mean that."

Bonnie crossed her arms and avoided all eye contact.

"I do and I have a date this week." She hasn't even replied to Kol's text yet.

"Is it-You know what? Have fun on your date." He stopped trying with her and retreated to his house. Then he turned around and looked at Bonnie by her car.

"You came all the way here just to say that you're moving on. You still care."

"I wish you and her the best."

Her words come out tearily and she does a short sprint to her car and it pained her to look back at him but she did anyway. She hopped in her car and rode with her windows down like there was no tomorrow. She only had enough gas to get home but on the way, she stopped in some alleyway and sulked. The whole interaction felt like a breakup when it shouldn't be.

But everything was so wrong and she just needed to rip the band-aid off; it was finally over and she had a chance at normalcy.

She went through her contacts on her device and found Kol's number.

"Hey, this is Bonnie," She sighed as she looked at her wheel. "Look, I know I'm getting back to your sort of late but I just needed to clear up some things..."

"Hm, I suppose I can extend my grace period for you."

"I was hoping you would."

"So, you're agreeing to spend a whole day with someone as fanatic as me?" He let out a hoarse laugh. "Prepare for the oddest date you've been on in your entire life."

"I didn't agree to any-" Bonnie heard a ding that signaled that Kol ended the call. This was it, her first step on moving on.

* * *

Grams couldn't stop gushing about Bonnie's date which made the young woman regret telling her at all. It wasn't long before Abby found out and she shared the same excitement as her mother. This was the closest they were getting to grandchildren in years. That's how long Bonnie was single and no, they would never let her forget it.

Right now the trio of Bennett women was in the mirror. Bonnie sat in the red plush chair that was centered in front of the vanity. Grams was on her left and her mother, Abby was on her right. They had just got finished putting cornrows in her hair.

"You were wearing your hair so much at one point that I was wondering if my Bonnie was kidnapped," Grams commented, examining the length of her braids.

"I only did it because this guy said he liked my hair out-it doesn't matter, you're right I hate my hair out it gets all humid and frizzy in this weather."

"Is this the guy you're going on your date with?" Abby asked while brushing her cheeks with a pink blush. She knew she wasn't going to get a complete or even incomplete answer but it didn't hurt to question it.

"Ah, this brush is pointy!" Bonnie exclaimed, holding her cheek and then moving closer to take a better look at her face. "I don't wear that much makeup."

"And that's a problem," Abby finished. "You avoided my question."

"You just stabbed her in the face with a brush," Grams said, coming to her granddaughter's aid.

"Ma, the bristles aren't even that hard she's just a baby," Abby replied and gave Bonnie a pinch on her cheek. "See, my makeup is good, won't swear off or nothing even when-"

Bonnie closed her eyes shut. "Please don't finish that sentence."

Abby put her hands up with a comical face and Sheila just looked at her unshamed daughter's demeanor.

"And, the guy I mentioned before was, I mean is not who I'm going on a date with tonight." Bonnie glanced at her lap. "He's not even mines, which is a shame because he's magical."

"Well, in your young life you'll meet many single people," Grams consoled her and touched her cheek causing Bonnie to smile to hold back her tears.

"Well, the first thing you are going to do is delete baby boy's contact out of your phone. Bennett women are not homewreckers."

Grams made a sound in agreement.

"What's his name? I'll handle the first step for you," Abby pestered, reaching for Bonnie's phone only for her to grab it.

"Thanks, but I'm a big girl. I handled it and we're probably never speaking again."

Grams and Abby shared a bemused look at the high pitch in Bonnie's voice and the discomfort clear in her face. This would be the most information they were getting - and they had to beautify her to get it. At least a key puzzle of her sour days was revealed even though getting the full picture was getting more and more unobtainable.

..

Kol and Bonnie are stuck in traffic and all his big talks of an adventure date are ruined by congested streets. All the invading car smoke was enough to make a person sick. Since they did have free time it gave them more opportunity to talk without the guise of trying to entertain each other. Not that Bonnie was a snob in any way, a simple kind gesture would impress her and humor couldn't hurt either. She sat in her seat, small as she was and pointed at the road repeatedly at an opening.

"There was opening right there, why isn't this lady moving?"

Kol laughed and said, "I take it you don't drive much, traffic in London is insane." He rolled his eyes. "They drive so slow over there I begged my Pops for my first sports car it was as useless as-" He pressed his lips and thought about how privileged and spoilt he sounded.

"I drive," Bonnie confirmed. "It isn't a Lamborghini ripping down Ocean Drive but I have it for about 4 years now."

"Ah, I didn't mean to-"

"I know," Bonnie started seriously but in a funny dramatic way said, "We come from different socio-economic backgrounds like the rest of my friends do, how could this ever work?"

He looked at her and smiled which transformed to small chuckle and Bonnie is cheesing right back at him like an amazed schoolgirl when he says something cheesy to her. The vibe isn't forced at all and it feels reminiscent to the one at the party. Except for that night, she looked like an absolute goddess, her vanity was unmatched. It didn't matter though, she was still drop-dead gorgeous and he made note of that.

"You know you're a real show stopper, Bonnie," Kol said, taking his eyes off the road to glance at her.

"Hey! Keep your eyes on the road, I'm not pretty enough for us to die."

They share another laugh and she nods off to the side to gaze out the window before dozing off.

...

 _Bonnie was in the center of an unknown room and she says something to see if someone is in the house with her. The floors were hardwood and bare with next to no furniture frightened when she hears the sound of her echo. The room is spinning, she's not moving but everything feels like it is. The loneliness was deafening literally - it was so quiet that she could hear a tack drop._

 _"Bonnie?" Elena calls out her name and they hugged each other tightly. Tears were coming from her eyes, preferably of joy._

 _"I thought I lost you," The young dancer tells her as they pull away and suddenly Elena puts her mouth on hers and initiates a kiss. Bonnie shakes her head and looks away when the woman tries to kiss her again. This time with a little more spice._

 _"Hey," Elena caressed her face. "You don't have to do that, it's just us, I promise."_

 _Bonnie looked convinced enough and nodded looking at her longtime friend's face and then more specifically her lips._

 _"Don't think, just do," Elena told her with a smile resulting Bonnie to use her tiptoes to kiss her with a much more charging force._

 _They break away and connect their foreheads, heaving from the previous lip-locking._

 _"I love you,"_

 _Green eyes flicker up, way higher than she would have to look up at Elena. It isn't her voice and certainly not her face. She knows the person before he shouldn't be there, it's Stefan and he has torpedoed every thought and wish about Elena away. All she wanted was to be able to hold, kiss and caress her. The only problem is he wants to do the same with Bonnie and she'd let him if she wasn't so damn righteous. So, instead of giving in Bonnie gets angry and pushes him away._

 _..._

"Bonnie," Kol called out waking her up. She shakes at his touch and talks recklessly and unstoppably in her self.

"No, it's too much... _him_ , _you_ it's wrong just so wrong! I just want to go home!"

"Bonnie!" The London native called out making her jump out of her alternate reality.

She opened her eyes coughing and begging for water since her throat was dry. Kol decided not to ask Bonnie about her strange and sporadic yelling. The traffic put enough damper on their date, the girl falling asleep during it was inevitable. His confusion was put on the back burner when he saw her eyes light up in joy at the place they're at - her old arcade she used to go to as a child.

Playfully, Bonnie hits him on the shoulder.

"What kind of deep level digging you had to do to know about this place?"

The younger Mikaelson brother puts his hands up, a nonverbal sign that showed his defeat.

"A certain blonde after one too many bottomless mimosas might have told me what would win you over."

Of course, Caroline would help him advance his way into her heart, everything she said or did for Bonnie was out of being a good friend. The woman would use that excuse if the consequences were negative or positive. They have to both buy game cards in order to engage in the arcade activities. Kol only had to offer to buy her individual card about 3 or 10 times until the line started complaining about their bickering. He shook his head at her resilience and independence not wavering for a simple $40 game card. The currency wasn't going to be valid anywhere else.

"I know we just talked about this but I am going to pay you back," She said as she took the card from Kol and wrapped the card around her fingers, eager to win some tickets. They're in-between the lobby and the flashing lights that shade all the games.

They share a smile and Bonnie runs back into the place like the gun went off to start a race.

"What are you doing?" Kol asked aloud causing her to turn on toes with a curved, joyous smile.

"Getting a head start, I guess Caroline didn't mention my competitiveness."

"Oh, so not fair!" Kol replied with a laugh but looked up to see his date already working with a game screen. He too began scrambling to find a machine to play on. Bonnie was already looking at the number of tickets she received.

"No this was fair from the second we walked in here," The caramel brunette said in a sing-song voice.

There was no other way to say this but this was the only way Kol could say it: Bonnie Bennett handed his ass to him in that place. She ran around there like it was her personal playground and shot devious smiles at him all throughout the date. Caroline did not prepare him for this firecracker of a woman. Bonnie won her own damn over-huge teddy bear as seen in the TV or films with her earnings. All he had enough was a whoopee cushion.

Afterward, they go to a drive-in restaurant and eat in the parking. Again, Kol paid for their respective meals and shocker, (not) Bonnie wasn't having it. She did enjoy her combo cheeseburger meal with a large peanut butter chocolate shake though.

Bonnie had just finished the last bite of her burger and looked over to see Kol staring at her, just smiling openly.

"What?" She mouthed.

Kol stared at his sandwich that was partially eaten.

"You completely demolished that Angus beef and I can hardly take another bite of this right here."

Bonnie looked at him again, drank her milkshake while doing so and popped her lips loudly. She went from cute to coy in a matter of seconds and the sun had barely darkened to set up the hue of the night. Kol's dark eyes kept his gaze on her.

"I may be small but I can eat a whole table full worth of food."

Kol laughed tirelessly. "I can see."

Her eyes glinted with mischief.

"Take me home?"

He revved the engine.

"Give me the address and we'll be there 15 minutes flat."

..

They park a block from her house because Kol was worried about her grandmother peeking from her window. It was Bonnie's idea to have them be a block far from the house since he seemed to be frightened by a little old lady. Shortness was probably a handed down trait that skipped every Bennett generation since Abby seemed to not have it.

Kol let the windows down and allowed the fresh

but stormy air in the car.

"So..." He began smoothly. "Why are we here?"

"Well, so I can do this." She grabbed his face and kissed him.

After the kiss, Kol opened his eyes slowly as if her lips had been enchanted.

"Damn, you really a goddess."

Bonnie laughed, placing a hand over her chest and swallowed to seriously answer back. "Thank you."

The Brit touched her face causing her to jump slightly and her skin to light up even more so than it did while they kissed.

"I'm begging you not to apologize for being such a damn looker."

She blushed, looking down at her painted nails.

"I had a really fun time today."

"I bet."

Their eyes never broke contact as he licked his lips while taking her beauty in. She got out of the car and leaned in the window so she could say goodbye but he grabbed her face softly and pecked her lips. The green-eyed woman blinked twice and slow as she released her mouth from his.

"Send me a text before you go to sleep."

"I will, I promise." He nodded and winked at her before riding off. She straightened up and ran her fingers through her hair watching him zoom off. Then she looked forward realizing that she had to walk home during the beginning of a storm. She was left alone with her thoughts of the date as she strolled down the street with a goofy smile upon her face.

..

Bonnie opened her door with her same expression but it soon vanished away once she saw who was in her kitchen. Her breathing quickened and she softly shut the door so she wouldn't alert the people of the house. She didn't want them to know she was here at least not yet, it gave her a minute or two to mentally prepare herself. There sat Elena in the kitchen, no her kitchen just chatting it up with her grandmother. She had her usual kind disposition and said her gratitudes as the older woman poured her a tall glass of lemonade. It seemed like she rushed to her house straight after work but Bonnie had to admit she loved seeing her in her scrubs. They were dark pink.

"It's almost 7 and that girl isn't back yet," Grams said, shaking her head as she put the pitcher back in the cooler.

"Oh, that's alright, I'm leaving soon anyway, the storm is coming." Grams nodded and stood by the sink. "Miss Sheila, you did mention that Bonnie had a date tonight?"

Before Grams could answer, Bonnie walked in the kitchen and made her presence known. "Hey," She greets.

"Hey, baby, how are you? Feels like I haven't seen you the whole day."

She kept her hands to her sides. "I'm doing good, tonight was great and hopefully I have a better tomorrow."

Elena smiled and put her cheek in her hand looking up at her friend. "So, what did you do tonight?"

"I must have forgotten to tell you. This girl finally has done got her a date," Grams cut in while washing her hands and then drying them. There was a pause, no silence because neither of them spoke any words. Her talking unknowingly resulted in a rift between the two. She turned around to see with her eyes of the two best friends sharing a wrangling glare. She excused herself from the kitchen, picking up the tension.

Bonnie took a breath and folded her arms. She shortly led their duo upstairs to her bedroom. They were silent on the way up because whatever words that needed to be spoken would be uttered behind a familiar closed door. It took Bonnie back to a time where it was simpler to be just one-sided.

..

 _"Okay, basics we got chapstick and then lipgloss down, breath mints, but I prefer pink bubblegum."_

 _"Why bubblegum?" Bonnie asked._

 _"I just like to pop out, unpop it and then get rid of it. Plus, the sugar makes it tastes really sweet."_

 _Bonnie fiddled her thumbs and spoke with her head down. "We've done everything but the actual, y' know kissing part."_

 _Elena smiled and sat down next to Bonnie. "Alright, K.I.T aka kisser in training, you're about to finish the final step, any last words?"_

 _Bonnie nodded eagerly and leaned in, following Elena's cue._

 _.._

The woman is brought back to the present day when Elena speaks up again.

"You had a date and you didn't even tell me. What the hell?"

There was thunder from the outside right after her statement, the weather just emphasized her anger at the moment.

"It just one date, Elena. You're acting like I started being exclusive with him."

The nurse scoffed. "The difference between me and you is that you were actively trying to keep this from me."

"So, what if I was?" Bonnie looked away and faced the window. "It's pouring really bad out."

"I just thought after everything that you wouldn't do this."

Bonnie felt a strange feeling of triumph because that was what she felt but even more intensified when she found out about Stefan.

"You know, that's how I felt."

Elena stood in front of her longtime friend, stroking her thumb and kneeled in front of her. She kissed her hand.

"I like you now and it's in the way that you like me."

Bonnie's eyes double-crossed her words of disapproval. "Please, there's a storm brewing and you need-"

"Do you want me to go?'

Her green eyes flickered at Elena's dark brown ones almost dangerously. "No..." And just like that she stays and all of the memories from her date are irrelevant.

Elena smiled and stood up and walked towards Bonnie's dresser and got some items out. It was a shirt, shorts, and some panties. The frizzy-haired woman looked baffled. There was no way Elena felt confident enough to think she was sleeping anywhere but her room. Her mouth dropped when she started to take off her shirt. Bonnie looked away.

" _What. Are. You. Doing._ "

The hospital worker's pink shirt was halfway rolled up and underneath was a white tee.

"Changing, what else would I be doing?" Her tone was sarcastic but her voice was like honey.

"No, I'm serious what are you doing?"

"You haven't seen me naked, have you?" Elena grinned in satisfaction knowing that she got up under Bonnie's skin.

The night of the party, Bonnie felt and groped very supple parts of her body but the room had been dark. No hookup was ever in good lighting, not for her atleast. She hadn't seen a goddamn thing. If that was the only and last moment with her, she would be completely satisfied with not seeing anything. She slowly turned her head to Elena who was now in her bra and underwear.

"No," Bonnie trembled while looking over the woman's dark blue undergarments. "No, I haven't." She coughed.

"Okay. I would have worn something sexier underneath my scrubs if I known I had an important audience tonight."

She started to unhook her bra and let her breast breathe. Bonnie studied them briefly as Elena stood and then walked to the dresser to grab the shirt and shorts she assembled. She put the shirt on but it was way too small for her tall and slender body, so it showed off her flat stomach.

Elena then hooked one thumb and then another around her panties. "Do you want my right or left thumb to take these off or both?"

"It doesn't matter."

She pouted, "But I value your opinion so much."

"Do it the way your boyfriend likes it," Bonnie gritted, getting angry all over again. She should have sent her home the second she spotted her.

The brunette sighed and walked towards her and placed her very own hands on the sides of her frustrated friend's head.

"Bonnie," She kissed her forehead. "Just think about us."

The shorter half of the duo ran her hands up Elena's leg's and returned them to where she started-her waistband. Her lips parted in want and curiosity. She didn't know where this would take them. Usually, if a girl is willingly putting her privates in her face she'd be ready to chow down. it was a charged moment, to say the least.

"Go ahead, do it," Elena ordered in a whisper.

Bonnie took a long breath before obliging and hooking both thumbs down her olive-skinned thighs. The cloth was drenched in her fluids so she could only imagine how warm and wet she actually was. Bonnie didn't test it though, she kept her eyes on Elena's the entire time while she looked down and kicked them underneath the bed.

"Go get your new pair and shorts," Bonnie said.

Elena slipped the two items with ease and crawled into Bonnie's bed.

"Okay, it's your turn now."

Bonnie narrowed her eyes. "I'm not stripping in front of you, you're insane."

"And you're insane for not fucking me."

There was a thunderbolt afterward that came from outside and roared inside the room.

"We had a moment of weakness at the party, this can't keep happening."

"You want to move on with this new guy and I don't even get a fucking say so. My boyfriend falls in love with you and me just-"

"What?"

"It's sort of obvious from the way he looks and talks about you. We broke up anyway last Tuesday."

Bonnie wished she could say sorry but it wouldn't be genuine or appropriate to do so. So, she rests her head on Elena's shoulder prepared for her to lament over another breakup. She remembered all the other names of the others and always thought that her pretty eyes shouldn't be producing any tears for them. This had to be the only exception of that rule.

"I know you really loved him."

Elena sniffled. "I did, I mean I still do. Apparently, he's taken a new job in Jersey."

Bonnie shook her head in disbelief. "He wouldn't leave without saying goodbye." No call, no text?

"His flight left yesterday morning, he wanted to catch it before the storm I guess."

This time around when Bonnie held Elena while she cried over another boyfriend she too was on the other end weeping away.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Playing Games

* * *

"I don't know how to function with him gone. I mean I do function by driving, working, socializing, taking care of my personal needs but sometimes at night I just break down in tears."

The therapist wrote something down in her notebook. "You said you pratically yelled him out the door."

There was a sigh. "I mean I did, I just wanted to scream do something dramatic to make him stay. God, I'm so pathetic."

"Elena, you were in a what seems to be a long-term monogamous relationship, so much oxytocin is released between that time and everything is heightened. But when it's over the lows are well-"

"Low." The doctor nodded.

"What does your friend, Bonnie, have to do with his decision?"

"He was in love with her, it's my fault really, everything about this is my fault. He wanted to stay for her, she was the last person he saw before leaving."

"Whatever she said must have impacted his decision, we don't have to talk about it. Did Bonnie ever reciprocate his feelings?"

"Of course, but she won't flat out say it. I love her and I don't want her to feel guilty. They kissed without my knowledge so I guess that's when he started having those feelings."

"What do you mean without your knowledge?"

Elena took a long breath and lamented on about the dinner all the way to the party. The therapist's eyes widened since their history was in proper context. Monogamy wasn't on anyone's mind. The three of them were all romantically entwined.

"You're still seeing Bonnie despite her having a boyfriend?"

The nurse sat up and shot serious eyes at the person before her. "We're friends."

"Friends who kiss like couples do? You said it yourself."

"It's-It is _complicated_ , okay?" Elena ran her fingers through her hair.

"Why are you here exactly?"

"I'm confused about my life, my identity, how I feel about my career, it's super tiring," The brunette sighed. "I think we're done here this is the 3rd session and none of my questions have been answered."

"Rome wasn't built in a day, Ms. Gilbert. Take care." The doctor advised as she walked out.

* * *

Bonnie and Elena lied in the dancer's queen sized bed facing each other. Elena's body was longer so she hovered over the woman as she touched her face and gazed into her eyes. This was another one of their undefined evenings.

"I did something bad,"Elena admitted.

Verde eyes shot an apprehensive glance her way. "Spill, now."

"I went out with some of my co-workers to a bar.."

"Okay Meredith Grey," Bonnie joked and rubbed her partner's shoulder to urge her to finish the story. "How does this end in something bad?"

"You remember the cardiologist doctor, Liam?" The short woman shook her head. "Well, things escalated between us on the dance floor and ugh—is this happening too fast?"

"I want you to move on but with people at your place of work isn't exactly the best sign," Bonnie told her.

Elena raised her eyebrow, she was expecting a much more active response. She swung her legs over the bed and bent forward to slide on her shoes. The brunette knew Bonnie would have something say if she left without explanation. And just when Elena was about to unlock the door, Bonnie called out her name.

The once departing woman smiled with her back faced to Bonnie and turned around to join her in bed again.

* * *

Katherine waited impatiently for her person to arrive. She was in a quaint little cafe drinking some mid-quality coffee. The woman tapped her matte black acrylics on the table at an irregular pace. Then she looked up when she saw a blonde in an all black alternative like oufit.

"Liv. Nice to see that you can make it...20 minutes late of course."

The twin rolled her eyes. "Just give me my phone."

Katherine began to reach for the small device in her purse before shaking her head negatively. "I want to know what's on here before I hand it back to you."

"Nothing important." Liv scoffed when the brown-haired female across from her looked less than convinced. "I'll give you some exclusive information in exchange for it."

"I get to deem if it's exclusive enough for me to hand over what I have," Katherine clarified.

"I have a connection to Bonnie, we were...fuck, I don't even know how to define what we were. I guess we were in a relationship, yeah something like that." Liv took a deep breath. "I can't believe I said that aloud, it's been 4 years since university."

Katherine was visibly mortified. "You and her? Ugh, who would have thought it! You so aren't Bonnie's type."

"Why not? Our tongues all work the same, though mines is top tier, I could be anyone's type after one night."

Katherine rolled her eyes at the messy haired girl's crude comment. She did know that she wanted more more answers about the Parker twin's history with Bonnie. Liv answered all her questions to the best of her memory. Things like the duration of their relationship, how it came to be and who knew about it. As predicted, no one from Bonnie's circle knew anything about her dating girls at all. Katherine felt sympathy for the blonde as she retold the story of how Bonnie basically chose Elena over outing their relationship.

Since their talking wouldn't be ending anytime soon, the two ordered donuts as they conversed about the past. Katherine gave Liv even more background on the two's friendship over the years. It gave the blonde some form of clarity and she even wanted to forget even obtaining her old phone.

"It's a twisted love story, you know," Katherine told her with a glazed donut stuffed in her mouth. "Bonnie is just gonna keep running back to my sister who is just oblivious. I'm sorry you two never worked out—and I don't apologize for anything but I feel somewhat responsible because she is my twin and I have to share a face with the girl who stole your girlfriend."

"I-thanks I guess? I want to think that I'm over it and I've dialed up Bonnie's number angry as hell so many times and I just can't say what I want to say to her."

"Look, there's always time for redemption but I guess that'll be the day after you release whatever what's on this phone." Katherine slid the cellular device across the table before putting money on the table for the bill. Liv raised an eyebrow; she was leaving with no "gotcha" moment. This was not the Katherine that the people of Miami feared.

"That's it, you're giving me the phone?"

"Sweetie, it was never mines," The fleeing woman said before placing a tender hand on the blonde-haired girl's shoulder. "Take care."

Liv sighed and picked it up and examined it once more. That conversation had impacted her decision in more ways than she could ever imagine. Deleting the content from the party was liberating and a stray tear may have left her eye. It hurt knowing that Bonnie could never feel the same way because the way her heart was specifically programmed to beat for Elena. Olivia Parker never cries, she promised herself that a long time ago and wipes the substance from her cheek.

* * *

 **6 MONTHS LATER**

It was blazing hot outside in the very start of summer in their already warm city. Caroline should have never gotten an outside venue for her engagement party much less at another gorgeous mansion that was in Miami Springs. It was quite the commute at 6 am for Bonnie but the scenery was worth it. Helping Caroline decorate and finish last-minute party things was frustrating and tedious even but it was what friends did for eachother. Plus she was beyond ecstatic that Klaus had finally popped the big question after spring break and they were both absolutely glowing. If he hadn't asked then the eccentric blonde would have dropped to her own right knee and asked for his hand in marriage.

Bonnie was busy as ever with all her dancing gigs. She just auditioned for a tour in the US for some renowned music star. The opportunity to travel would be great but her happiness would still be the same if she continued her dancing lessons in the city. Living with her Grams would remain the same even if she went to Alaska. She loved that woman with every fiber of her being, she'd done a hell of better job than her biological mom ever did.

The dancer had her moments of feeling truly happy but her mind went back to him. Stefan, who was perfectly crafted in her dreams and her reality left without a trace. He hadn't even made an attempt to contact her through any form of communication, not even The Notebook style of outdated yet intimate letters. She even made her relationship with Kol valid to keep her mind off of Stefan and it worked temporarily.

The Brit knew her heart belonged to someone else and they broke up a month ago. It was as amicable as breakups could be and she cared for him, yes, but leading him on wasn't fair to either one of them. Then there's Elena, who became a complete rebel. Her visits to Bonnie's became less frequent and soon turned into phone calls and soon to be sporadic text messages.

The two women decided it was for the best.

Bonnie looked at her watch that read 5:00 in the evening. She was decompressing and preparing herself to see all the reappearing faces. This was one of the only parties she would willingly help Caroline with. The future bride was unaware of the upcoming tension of the night. She poked her friend's arm who seemed to be lost in her own world.

"Hey, look at what we did. Aren't you proud?"

The brown-skinned woman took a breath. "I am, we did good it's just that-can you plan my funeral?" Bonnie turned around as she saw Kol walking with his brothers.

"Oh, God, he'll be fine." Caroline eyed them once again and guided them to another direction. "But I'll help you out because exes suck even if said ex will be my in law."

The curly-haired woman who was linking arms with her newly engaged friend mouthed an anxious 'thank you' to her for avoiding Kol. Their breakup was amicable at best yes, but that didn't mean that the awkwardness would dissipate with it. Anyway, the two friends were currently indulging in the chocolate fondue fountain. Fresh strawberries were on a platter along with various food items.

Bonnie found it foolish on how much Klaus and Caroline (really just Caroline) would spend on a mere engagement party. An added nuisance was that the required attire was all white so whoever didn't follow the dress code would be sent home promptly.

Caroline chose the color to give a tease of what her wedding dress would look like in the near future. She looked absolutely ravishing in a long-sleeved that was laced from her shoulder to her wrists and the dress's hem fell right before her ankles with a slit on her left leg. The woman's heels were silver Loubotins—slightly giving royal vibes. Of course her hair was elegantly styled in an updo.

Bonnie grabbed her friend's hands and swung them happily. "You're gonna be a wife, I can't wrap my mind around this."

"I really thought I'd be the last one to settle down and now I'm the first," Caroline said exuberantly.

The dancer's smile faded when she saw two familiar faces—Elena with Katherine who were by the champagne glasses. She wasn't sure if they were there to enjoy the liquor or Caroline's actual engagement. It wasn't long before the four of them locked eyes and the twins began to head their way.

"Well, hello Mrs. Mikaelson," Katherine greeted, amused. "You two know how to pick a good bottle of Cristal."

Caroline smiled tightly. "Oh, don't give him too much credit, I have total control of every party detail down to that very brand of the glass you're holding."

There was silence between the group.

"Well, I'm going to find a hot stranger to mingle with," Katherine announced and touched Caroline's hand offering well wishes before exiting the conversation. Elena was down a person on her side and it was now Bonnie and Caroline who glanced at her with indifferent expressions on each of their faces.

"I would have got here sooner if your security wasn't being such a dick about me smoking. I had to hurry up and get rid of it and you know fast smoking is not for me," Elena revealed.

Caroline lips went into to a straight line. "Cigarette smoke clogs the air and stains white clothing - that was a direct rule of mines."

"Oh, Caroline, you are ever the micromanager, when I heard or when I _saw_ on Instagram that Klaus proposed I knew he finally accepted it." There was a strange aura of sinister energy coming from Elena, it was something more they expected from Katherine if anything.

"I just think that's your weird of congratulating me, so I am going to go see what's going on with my present fiancé who loves micromanaging ass," The blonde boasted before storming off. Elena just shrugged stoically, seemingly unbothered by her comments. Bonnie sighed and it was just the both of them.

"Why even come if you're going to be a bitch to the hostess?" The dancer questioned, annoyance in her voice.

Elena stepped towards hers, knowing that she towered over the 5''1 female even in heels that she had on. Bonnie could feel herself getting warmer and if the temperature got even higher, she'd combust out of heat exhaustion. "Aw, are you going to punish me for being so bad, Bonnie?"

She pushed Elena off of her, who laughed it off and attracted glances their way. "Don't cause a scene or anything you can't finish."

"I liked our chat too," The brunette said before walking off.

* * *

Bonnie had way too many glasses of champagne by the time the couple were making their official engagement announcement. They were in front a microphone with a beautiful slide show behind them as they made their speech. Something compelled the professional dancer to run towards the mic and say some positive words about her two friend's new union.

Her drunkness was obviously from the way she galloped and resulted in hesitant but encouraging clapping. Caroline was hurriedly making her way left off the platform with Klaus who was holding her hand. This was going to be Bonnie's moment..to fuck up and the blonde didn't want to be in the frame. Instead she just smiled nervously and waved to the crowd who were filled with friends and family alike.

"Have a little faith in her, love," Klaus told his fiancee in a low tone who was shaking. He was supposed to be the more realistic one out of the two while her approach was always optimistic. She just nodded her head, a performative smile still plastered on for her audience.

"These two," Bonnie pointed at the couple on her left. "Are the motherfucking, oops, can I say that? Well, anyways these two are the motherfucking couple of the year, decade, century whatever the fuck they want to be because they earned it!"

The crowd roared at her sentiments and it makes her even more confident to continue her impromptu speech. Klaus squeezed Caroline's hand for reassurance.

"The way you and Klaus love each other is just amazing and there's a...balance," Bonnie touched her chest and brought her hand back to her waist. "You look at Caroline like she's the only woman who completes you and that let me know that you really do love my best friend. Besides—" Her green eyes dart to a highly anticipated face with a blonde-haired date. Stefan? She coughed and blinked twice to make sure she wasn't seeing things and the reality was he was there.

"Besides, I um, wish you two the best this champagne has gone right through me so I have to go to the ladies room."

Bonnie could hear the mic dropping as she fleeted off the stage. The confused state of the crowd also flooded in her mind but right now she needed to be alone and made a B-line for that bathroom. First off, she really did have to pee and then headed to the sink to wash her hands and hyperventilate. Only her mother with her incessant antagonizing could make her reach this place of over excessive anxiety. Her exposed chest due to her romper heaved at a rapid pace.

"Hey, you looked pretty green out there, are you okay?" Kol knocked from the other side of the door.

"No, I'm fine like I said damn champagne has me all discombobulated," Bonnie responded. "I'll be out in a second."

"For what it's worth, I thought you gave a killer speech," The man said with a smile as she emerged from the restroom.

Bonnie crossed her arms. "Thank you, but I won't be doing that like ever." They both laughed and Kol found himself reveling in fond moments that they shared in the past. "Walk me back to the party?" She asked, a hint of flirtation in her voice. He linked arms with her, he could never deny her requests.

 _Elena: I'm tired of seeing you with him._

Bonnie was sitting at the table with the golden couple and their families with Kol by her side. After all her hard work, her spot at the table was earned and she was going to reap the benefits. She touched his hand underneath the table. He wasn't sure what she going for but it felt nice having her by his side again. The dancer just gave her friend a sly smile from across the room.

 _Bonnie: Steal me from him, why don't you?_

Elena approached their table. "Hey, do you all mind if I borrow our grand speaker, no? Okay, come on, Bonnie."

The short woman was being hauled out the party by a forceful grasp. This sort of aggressiveness was so not needed and she knew Elena was more pissed than she was leading on. They ended up in the parking lot.

"What do you want?" Bonnie gritted through her teeth each word.

"You want me to act this way, all jealous and shit, I'm not you Bonnie, I tend to wear my emotions on my sleeve," Elena told her in frustration.

"Maybe I wanted a little rise out of you and I got it so can I go back to the party please?"

Just as the woman was on her way back Elena called out, "Did you...did you see—?"

"Stefan, yeah." Bonnie nodded. "I haven't seen him after I ended my speech early."

"It's been six months and I can't even bring myself to say his name nor has he contacted me... at all." Bonnie knew the feeling of abandonment all too well and Elena was clearly still hurting. "I shouldn't have did you like that, I'm sorry and tell Care I'm sorry, enjoy the rest of the party, I'm gonna go home."

The gifted dancer would have begged her friend to stay and encouraged her to increase her spirits but truthfully her leaving was the best option. A dose of Elena Gilbert here and there was going to be a medicine she would willingly take.

* * *

The next day, the Bennett residence gets a single doorbell ring. It takes a while before the three women who yell about who gets to answer it actually answers the door. Since Bonnie has the 'freshest' legs they have her do it and the person on the other end of the door is clearly a visitor for her.

"What do you want?" She greeted angrily to Stefan. "I really wish you were a part of my imagination."

"Can we talk, please?" He reached out to her but she kept a guarded stance.

Bonnie shook her head and defiantly said, "No, after almost seven months after no communication you don't even get to be in my presence let alone talk to me."

"Who is that?" Sheila asked from a distant room.

The young woman kept a stern gaze on her so-called visitor. "They're just leaving, Grams," She replied back.

"I'm only here until Monday morning. I'm going to send you my room number because I'm staying at the Hilton Suites," Stefan said finally.

Bonnie scoffed; if men had nothing to lose, they would never lose audacity.

* * *

It's an insanely dumb idea and one that she swore would never do but here she is infront of his door. Waiting for him to answer and inevitably let her in. Truth is, she didn't want to talk because she would even get more angrier.

When Stefan opened the door, Bonnie quickly sealed his lips with her own with an urgent kiss. His confusion rapidly turned into reciprocation as one of his hand grabbed her backside and the other was cupped around her neck. In a short pause, she started to remove her jacket.

"Wait," He hesitated. "What are we doing?"

"You suggested we talk and maybe that's not what I want to do," Bonnie told him suggestively. It takes a nanosecond for him to process that sentence and he picks her up and tossed her on the bed on the bed with crushing kisses on mouth, jaw, and neck.

"After this," She said breathily. "I don't want to see your face again."

He removed her blouse with languid fingers and was planning to plant his mouth on chest and torso too. "You don't mean that."

"Oh, yes, I do." Her back arched and she moaned as his dipped even further into her essence. If this was him saying goodbye without the words yet his lips were moving perfectly. They're too wrapped up in their own pleasure to say that this was an entirely bad idea.

* * *

 **A/N: Finally, it happened.**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Busted

Bonnie clearly overstayed her welcome at the hotel. She tried to leave and planned to leave after the first but then was another and then one more so she fell asleep. Now in terrible cliche, she was slipping back into her underwear and then her clothes from yesterday to participate in the walk of shame. There was a knock at the door and she ceased her actions.

"I'm not leaving this easily like I did last night, brother!" Damon yelled from the other-side of the door.

She panicked and woke Stefan up as quietly as she could. He rubbed his eyes and sat up with nothing but his boxers on. Bonnie bit her lip at sight of him and released it. His hand traveled to her now lubricated lips and rubbed it.

"Who are you thinking about?"

"I..." The brown beauty wandered and swallowed, straightening up. His gaze was too intense. "You," she finally said in a more confident voice.

"Good." He was planning to close the space between their mouths.

"I will kick this door down, Stefan!" Damon exclaimed, causing the both of them groan.

They had to assemble a plan quickly and hiding Bonnie was the main objective. No one could know that the two were together, the consequences would be deadly. Bonnie was being led in the bathroom and pushed against the wall. Stefan put a finger to her lip once again, effectively shutting her up.

"He'll be gone 5 minutes, tops," He promises to her.

Quickly, Stefan slipped on his jogging pants that were carelessly on the floor and headed towards the door. On the other end was none other than his only sibling. Damon smiled and brushed right past him to sniff through his room as if he had the nose of a bloodhound.

"You know, last night I gave you the benefit of the doubt when I came here," The blue-eyed man revealed in devilish voice "Whoever that was in here sounded insanely hot, it definitely wasn't Rebekah, I know what that ass sounds like miles away."

It made Stefan's blood boil the way his brother talked about Bonnie even if he didn't know it was her. He had to choose his words carefully because Bonnie was still in the room listening to every word. Plus, throwing Damon off was also apart of this challenge.

"I think you're mishearing things, must have been been the people next door," He responded calmly.

Damon sang song, "Bullshit." He took a seat on the living couch. "I did not hear whimpering and moaning, which was actually delightful by the way, contrasted by your primal grunting."

"You think you're fucking funny, don't you?"

"Oh, let's not get hasty now. Maybe this one is special which is why you're protecting her," The older brother teased. "Tsk, the last special one was Elena and look how at that ended. That girl left the party so fast as soon as she found out you were in the building."

Stefan did recount not seeing her throughout the night. "I—shit, I didn't even realize...why are you bringing her up?"

"No one really knows why you two broke up and with this mystery woman that was with you last night, you're starting to look like the bad guy here." Damon took in his surroundings. "Isn't this a suite?"

"It is, why?"

"I'm actually proud of you baby brother, you bought this with your own salary and not Mom and Dad's," Damon said with a slow clap.

"Fuck them and their money, I don't need it."

"Ooh," Damon mused. "Someone's mad. Their money got you through school and you clearly benefited from that."

"It was an investment, actually and I paid them back," Stefan clarified.

"Alright, I think I've got all the information I need from this visit," Damon started to get up. "I'll just tell everyone that Stefan was in his suite dreading about going back to his ironically idyllic life in Jersey where he has no friends or family."

"Bye, Damon," Stefan told him before loudly slamming the door. He exhaled before telling Bonnie she could leave the bathroom. She came out in her underwear looking completely disheveled.

"I am such an idiot." Bonnie scoffed and frantically started looking for her clothing. "Hiding in bathrooms like I'm college again," She muttered.

"You're leaving?"

"I learned from the best, didn't I?" He stood in front of her. "Move," Bonnie told him in a defiant voice.

"This is why we should have talked first, I never wanted to leave you, Bonnie."

The now agitated woman made a noise. "This is why I didn't want to talk because you did leave me. Now get out of my way."

"Fine, but tell me last night didn't mean anything of change how you feel about me," Stefan challenged.

"Last night was perfect just like I dreamed it to be, but it can never happen again. I have successfully fucked you out of my system."

"That's cute."

"It's true, deflate your ego for a second, just one." She smiled when he finally stepped out of her line of exit.

"I left because I was falling in love with you and I couldn't keep being unfair to Elena. As soon as the job opened, I took it and never looked back so I'm sorry. Just stay, please."

Bonnie didn't turn around once but instead unlocked the door. "I'm not the woman you should be apologizing to. Your absence hurt me, it did, but I managed well without you. Take care, Stefan."

* * *

September 3rd. It was date Caroline Forbes chose to be her wedding date. And they were also two numbers Bonnie would never forget as her blonde friend kept repeating them. She was happy for her engaged friend but her mind wandered other places. Elena was one of them, her family, her career since she was still waiting to see if she'd be going on tour or not and finally her tryst at the Hilton loomed in her head.

Caroline touched her shoulder with great concern. "Sweetie, you okay?"

"I-" Bonnie took a deep breath. "Thanks for asking, I'm fine, just thinking about something stupid I did a couple weeks ago."

"Oh, my god, my party. You totally hooked up with someone."

"Um," The woman coughed, blushing. "Not at your party but that same weekend, yeah."

"Wow, my parties are getting classier now that I'm going to be a Misses," Caroline said aloud thoughtlessly and Bonnie laughs genuinely. The blonde popped back up with more theories about the beau her recently broken up with friend had fooled around with.

"It was so Kol, it's like the universe wants us to be sister-in-laws. You two are gorgeous and would make some pretty ass babies."

Bonnie's eyes went wide but soon turned back to their normal state. She had officially had a lie to maintain with and a secret to bury even deeper. It wasn't like Caroline would ask Kol for further reference on this alleged hookup. She gave a weak smile and laughed. "Yep, sex with my ex, we belong in a cheesy sitcom where we can never get it right."

"One day, you'll get it right and the four of us will be in the Mikaelson family vacation home in Antigua every Christmas. Bonnie and Caroline MIkaelson-it has a nice ring to it."

"I like that."

* * *

Elena stood in front of her mirror brushing her long hair. Her brown locks were always praised by her inner circle and she knew personally her boyfriends loved them. At this point of her life where she was hopelessly single by choice, she wasn't trying to please the male perspective. So, she was currently cutting her hair and after it was done, it fell right above her shoulder. Her therapist encouraged change and this could be one of her biggest.

She brushed the excess hair off of her shoulders and hopped in the shower. She knew she had to debut her new hair but not to the people she knew since their opinions would be limitless. A bar would be nice to hit up. Her attire was daring; a black latex dress that hugged her figure and leather boots to match

It's a place she somewhat trusts and planned to get completely wasted at. The nurse only does this once in a while when she wants feel something other than nothingness. She dusts off her seat before sitting down and returns gazes to her admirers. It was what single people did—play the field.

"I got a seat you can dust off," A man crudely tells her.

"Oh really?" Elena lips curbed flirtatiously. "Buy me a drink and I'll consider it."

The male grinned and continued to buy her drinks all night. This was going to be an increasingly easy lay for him tonight. A lost girl traveling into a bar after a few drinks would have booth loose lips and loose legs.

It's 3 AM and some random number is calling Bonnie's phone. She almost doesn't pick up the late night call.

"Yeah, you Bonnie?" An irritated man asked.

"This is her, what's up?"

"Bonnie, my friend! She is soooo my bestest friend in the whole world," A drunken Elena chants.

"You need me to come pick her up don't you?" The dancer inquired.

Elena woke up with a pounding headache and mumbled. She was slick with sweat on her living room couch. Maybe she couldn't make it to her own bedroom due to her intoxicated state. She propped her head on the back of the couch to see her short best friend fixing a smoothie in the kitchen. A smile graced her lips.

"Well, hello my knight in shining armor," Elena said tiredly with charismatic tone.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and handed her the green concoction. "That should help you with your hangover."

"Hangover? No, I don't get those," The brunette scoffed. "Shit, maybe I do."

"You're welcome."

Elena drank it slowly before putting the cup on the side table. "So, what now, you gonna leave me?"

"Not before making sure you were OK." Bonnie sighed. "I'm getting back together with Kol."

"That's...that's great. Predictable, but good for you, I'm sure Abby is ecstatic."

"Elena, it isn't like that. You know I like him and it has nothing to do with her."

"He's the safe choice but not necessarily the right one," The brunette told her.

Bonnie didn't counter her opinion and shrugged. If anything, her going back to Kol was less severe than sleeping with her ex. Elena's reaction was less harsh than she expected. Still, the dancer couldn't tell her about the night she shared with Stefan two weeks ago.

"What do you know about Stefan's parents?" Bonnie asked her.

Elena raised an eyebrow. "Almost nothing except for the fact that he hates them. Do you know anything else?"

"I did some searching, purely out of random curiosity and apparently his dad was a state senator," Bonnie informed, leaving some key information out that she was eavesdropping the conversation between him and his brother.

Elena went searching for her phone and did a quick Google search herself. She was fascinated with the people she found and couldn't find a visual link between her ex boyfriend and his alleged parents. Their house was in the most prestigious "cities" in the land.

"Jupiter fucking Island? That shit is like an open secret, all those rich people live there but no one ever talks about it and it says they lived there for years here look." Elena stood up to show her friend the pictures who was skeptical.

"I just don't see Stefan in a snobby atmosphere like this he's way too humble."

"Was humble. We don't know what he's like now, speaking of him can you believe he sent me a text the night before he had to leave?"

Bonnie cleared her throat out of sheer nervousness. "Um. Did you go see him?"

"No, I mean I thought about it for the longest and even drove to that Hilton tower but I just couldn't do it? I ended up driving off because I know I would have to tell you first," Elena said honestly.

The sapphic woman's eyes started to water and then overflow as her friend came to comfort her. She wanted to convince herself of not having any guilt but with Elena's confession, it was becoming impossible. Bonnie couldn't tell her what really happened because it would fracture their friendship even further. So instead, she pretends to cry about missing him and being the one who got his call. She can give Elena this temporary feeling of superiority.

* * *

It's a crazy idea but the two of them decide to go to Jupiter Island the week after. Honestly, it's Elena persisting and Bonnie just wanting to make her happy attending. The brunette was smoking while driving and what's bothering Bonnie is the girl smoking a joint.

"Are you really getting baked before we go see your ex's parents?" Elena gave her a bored look.

"He met my parents so it's only fair that I get to meet his and yes, my parents loved him. Besides, weed won't kill you."

"It just seems like another vice of yours," The dancer muttered before scrolling through her phone again. She was getting no decent reception and didn't want to be forced to talk to her troubled friend.

"Maybe I had to pick up a couple of them to cope with my breakup then a dozen more because of you." She threw her joint out the window and put her left hand back on the wheel. Bonnie doesn't say a word when she realizes the girl hadn't even been inhaling the plant fully. Her driving was decent enough for them to avoid the law. Maybe everything Elena was doing was solely for her very attention.

...

"I'm sorry about security dear, my husband has made a lot of controversial decisions throughout his career. Any deranged person could come here and harm us."

"Controversial is one way to put it," Bonnie muttered, causing Elena to put a hand on her upper thigh to placate her.

"We completely understand the precautions, Mrs. Salvatore. Having to show old photos of me and your son was...challenging to say the least." The brunette's tone was sorrowful but her eyes told a contradicting story.

Lily sighed and stood up. "I'll get out the good aged stuff that my husband thinks he can keep hidden from me and that isn't the only thing he thinks he can cover up." They both chuckle while Bonnie remains quiet. The older woman tells them she'll be back in 10 minutes. Bonnie turns to Elena since they're the only two in the room apart from the maids who are doing more snooping than cleaning. From the looks of it, the two women on the couch were not regular visitors and probably would never return.

"Okay, we got closure or whatever, these people suck. Can we leave now?"

Elena scoffed; "Leave now? We've barely scraped the surface, I want to know why he hates them so much and honestly I don't know how you even know he hates them."

The dancer coughed, looking around and unable to meet her friend's inquisitive eye. "Okay, we'll stay but don't expect me to say or do much." Elena relaxed in her seat and made mental note of Bonnie narrowly avoiding her question.

After spending an entire afternoon with Stefan's mother, she can see there is not one evil bone in her body. She isn't some trophy wife either, her salary as a former architect was no petty penny. They learn that she even designed the home herself back in the 90's and had it recently renovated as of late last year. It now had a sleek interior and easy access for visitors. Lily was showing them baby pictures of her youngest son and found herself tearing up. Elena, being the compassionate one, rubbed her arm for support. "It gets better."

"I'm sure you two were good to eachother, sometimes relationships just don't work out." The brunette just nodded in agreement. "Finding your way back to said relationship isn't exactly impossible."

Elena pressed her lips together. "Reconcilation is the last thing on my mind, right now."

"I understand dear." Lily smoothed out her dress and turned towards Bonnie with a friendly smile on her face. The girl had spoken less than 15 words throughout the entire day, which begged the question: What place did Bonnie Bennett have in their split?

"Well, how well did you know Stefan?"

"Me?" Bonnie pointed towards herself and Lily nodded. "I'm just a friend, m'aam."

"Quite a friend you are."

"No offense, but we don't really understand why he doesn't be around this," The dancer waves her hand around the grand house they're sitting in. "Or you."

"I..I was afraid that this question would come up." Lily took a sip of her beverage. "We have parties and functions at our home but rarely no one ever visits, it's vast here. All the bedrooms, up kept furniture, the exterior is just a façade. We're unhappy here."

Bonnie and Elena's expressions were very sympathetic as the mother spoke candidly. Her family was the living proof that money couldn't buy happiness.

"To answer your second question, I lost my family by making the worst decision of my life. I had an affair—in Paris on a job. I was supposed to be there 3 months but I kept prolonging it because truthfully I was happier there but Gio took it out on my boys and I can't tell you what he did, but my housekeepers told me all they could grasp. When I came back home, everything was strained and broken."

Lilian took out a Kleenex and dotted her watering eyes. "I hope that answered everything."

Bonnie took a deep breath. "But what if you didn't go to France? It sounds amazing there."

"Oh, it was and I don't regret it, had I not gone I would have been stuck as a wife and mother and I was fine with that for the most part."

"And the other part?" Elena asked.

Lily smiled, a bittersweet emotion overtaking her. "The other part of me had to feel what Paris felt like."

...

The car ride back to Miami is quieter than before, quieter than the inside of the big houses all over Jupiter Island. Elena wasn't sure if she got full closure but she knew that she had answers. She pressed the brakes of her car in front of Bonnie's home before parking.

"Is there anything you want to tell me?" The brunette faced her friend. "I think we both know something is up…"

"I came with you on this impromptu trip, so I'm sorry if I'm out of my element at the moment," Bonnie responded. "Am I free to go?"

Elena turned her car back on, preparing to leave. "Go ahead." She squinted as she saw Bonnie walk into her house. Her hands shook as she dialed the number and her world would come crashing down no matter if he answered or not.

 _Stefan_.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: She Has No Idea

* * *

Six months went by and she still didn't have answers because her questions grew day by day. Stefan had to answer Elena's call since he owed her that much and more. She was usually confident in speaking and it wasn't known confidence it was how she was. Secure within herself and everything she did and now it was all gone.

"I have so much to say to you...I just don't know where to begin," The brunette spoke, fiddling with her car keys.

"Don't say anything at all. What I wanted to tell you was that I'm sorry. I acted horribly and shut myself off from my old life, friends, you and-"

"Bonnie." Elena took a sharp breath. "Ever since that stupid dinner, her and I haven't been the same and we can't go back to being just friends."

"It seems like it was easier."

She was going to regret asking this and the way she ran her fingers through her hair proved so. "That last-minute text you sent me, did you send her the same one or better yet you went to go see her person right?"

"Elena...I'm-shit, you're right. Bonnie didn't want to see me at first."

Her ears didn't miss the past tense for a second and was preparing themselves for quite the story.

* * *

Bonnie spent one of her Friday nights gorging on ice cream after a long day of teaching dance class. She really loved her job and how eager the kids were eager to learn. At her short stature she wasn't too far behind in height with them. However, after years of practicing her craft she mastered the art of stage presence.

Two weeks went by without speaking to Elena and she kept telling herself it was for the best. Distance is good, a thought she kept force feeding herself. She leaned on Caroline more for support these days. Her friendship with the blonde was never as close as it was with Elena but with time maybe it could be.

Not thinking about her would sooner or later turn into thinking about her; a complete 360. Then her other thoughts were about Stefan. The passionate night that they shared together was not supposed to happen and she should have known better to open Pandora's Box. When someone makes a person feel like that, they should be able to shout it out from the rooftops. Bonnie couldn't because it was so, so wrong.

So, she continued eating the last of her pint of ice cream and buried herself into normalcy.

* * *

Katherine slammed her white colored acrylics encrusted in small diamonds on the table. Her jumpsuit is ivory white and her hair is in a sleek ponytail that moves side to side at each one of her movements. Bonnie doesn't understand Gilbert's flashiness as they are only in a café. Maybe she wants to find a male suitor who was becoming more desperate by the day.

Caroline had been dressing more conservatively and it was because she felt like she had to since she was going to be a wife soon enough. And by conservative, it meant boring. A plain white blouse with dark jeans and her shoes were shoes and so not heels. Klaus for one loved her bright-colored fashions but they were wilting away day by day.

Bonnie kept it simple but cute with a hot pink blouse and light washed jeans. It was reflective of the season, which would soon become hotter than usual with the first day of summer approaching. Her eyebrows raised as the two talked.

"So, you and Elena's birthday will be coming up soon and I just want to plan something." The blonde watched Bonnie's doubtful eyes. "Small, I promise it will be the smallest thing I have ever had my hands on. Well, not exactly the smallest, there was Ben McKritick in the ninth grade."

Katherine concealed her laughter at the mention of the former teen's disappointing rub and tug and sat up straight. "What did you have in plan for us? Must I remind you that my birthday is a week long celebration."

"In Katherine-land, I'm sure you enjoy that 7 day celebration but in the real world, we celebrate birthdays once unless you'd like to age 7 more times," Caroline said in a strained voice. The twin's face distorted in horror at the possibility of an added seven years. So she sat there and pouted while Caroline went back to her plan in her usually optimistic voice. "We are planning a surprise-party-not-party-but-birthday-dinner."

Two heads looked at each other in complete, confused silence before one of them voiced their opinions of the clusterfuck of a plan.

"What?"

"Yeah, Care, as your lifelong friend this has to be the wackiest idea you've had," Bonnie added.

Caroline sighed, annoyed that they couldn't keep up with her speed of voice.

"I am planning a surprise dinner disguised as a surprise party, it's a completely different function."

"That sounds absolutely—"

"Perfect," Katherine interjected. "This is what she needs because clearly this party isn't for me. Should we bring gifts?"

"The party/dinner is meant to be an intervention, really. She may be a bitch these days but I want to know why. You know, she hasn't been the same Elena since her and Stefan's unknown breakup. And I'm calling it unknown because we still don't know why they broke up and it's crazy because they were so good together from what I saw." Caroline took a deep breath and put her face in her hands before bringing it back to her regular view point.

"I'm just really worried about her," She finalized.

Katherine stood up and put her usually cold hand on the blonde's shoulder and squeezed it. She too had trouble processing her sister's acute breakdown. Caroline weakly smiled and held onto her hand for support. They were going to have to blindside Elena and that meant everyone had to be apart of it. Then both of their eyes traveled to a quiet Bonnie Bennett.

"You are going to fuck this up," Katherine pointed at her, her tone dangerous.

The dancer coughed. "What? I'm not, you guys."

"You and Elena keep each other's darkest secrets, how could you not tell her?" The twin challenged.

"I'm worried about her too, this meeting should happen and it needs to, just trust me."

"Would you give her a heads-up if we got Stefan to fly out here?" Caroline tilted her head up in curiosity.

Bonnie scratched the back of her head. Nervous didn't even describe how she felt at the moment. The hairs on the back of her neck spiked out at the mention of his name and the possibility of him coming back.

For Elena, his return would be only for her to achieve piece of mind.

"No," Bonnie shook her head. "I wouldn't tell her even though it is a terrible idea this supposed party, but because she needs the help."

Both of them released their menacing glares towards the dancer and resumed their day without any complications.

...

It was a few days before Elena's surprise-birthday -dinner-party-turned-intervention. The name is a mouthful but no one has made any effort to give it a name. Something that awful isn't worthy of name, Bonnie concludes. She was lounging on the couch and for once not thinking about everyone else and their actions.

Her mind was blank as a canvas until Abby stormed in her vicinity. This was so not the time for her to be a conversational mother. Bonnie liked when they ignored each other's presence and where she silently blamed her for everything wrong in her life.

Don't sit down on the sofa next to me, Bonnie thought as her mother swayed around in her periphery. Abby did the exact opposite and what Bonnie least wanted and sat down, trying conjure up a conversation. Fuck.

"So, what are you planning for that girl's birthday this year? Mind you, I only know it's time of year since you go crazy over it."

And her, Abby wants to add but she decided to keep their talk light-hearted.

"Our other friend, Caroline is in charge of it this year. The only thing I have to do is get her to go without telling her it's a surprise," Bonnie told her.

"That actually sounds like the hardest job, I mean she's your best friend," Abby sighed.

Bonnie shrugged, failing to see her point. "Yeah, she is, what about it?"

"Nothing," the absentee mother pursed her lips and popped them as she spoke up again.

"You feel for her too much to keep something so secretive from her. Just saying."

Abby walked out of the room with a smirk and her words left Bonnie both confused and also doubtful that she could go another week without informing Elena of the plan.

* * *

"What do you mean you told her about tonight—hey watch the neck!" Caroline hissed to the person curling her hair while talking to Bonnie. Bonnie, who

"It's my birthday yet I'm doing labor for you," Katherine said to her.

"Hello! This party-slash-not-party isn't about you, no offense and I'm the host so I need to be looking my absolute best." The blonde shot back. "And Bonnie? Say something, please."

The dancer was startled for a second before she coughed in a halfhearted attempted way to show she was paying attention. Caroline and Katherine bickering in the background almost made what she did seem obsolete.

"Yeah, my mom got in my head and-"

"Abby? God, how would she even know?"

Bonnie pursed her lips in a fine line. "I told her and she thought it would be hard for me to keep it from her so I kind of told her that it was a meeting."

"And now my beloved sister is running around MIA literally MIA because we can't reach her," Katherine added.

"You both called her phone?" Bonnie inquired and soon sighed when they replied affirmatively that they rung the missing brunette more than once. She hung up and immediately prepared to head out to Care's place.

Despite her intense, yet annoying loyalty to Elena that got them here in the first place, Caroline gave Bonnie the tightest hug.

"I am so mad at you so much right now but I love you usually 99% of the time."

Bonnie laughed as they broke away. "I love you too, Care."

"I hate to break up the happy reunion but we need a plan," Katherine cut in coldly.

Caroline smiled and happily revealed the agenda happily. "Okay, since Stefan just got in his hotel which is conveniently near the clubs, we updated him on everything and he wants to join Operation: Find Elena and bring her back to face the consequences."

"What if she's off her ass when we find her? There'll be no meeting tonight," Katherine pointed out.

"Then we do it tomorrow, Bonnie, you following?" The blonde asked with a brow raised at the apprehensive expression on her friend's face.

Um, yeah, chase Elena, bring her back here, and nail her down for that confrontation, I'm going to get my head start while you all wait for everyone else to get here." She spieled before grabbing her keys and paced out of there.

"She barely reacted to my sister's ex being back in town," Katherine noted suspiciously.

"Something's not adding up, should we tail her?"

"Nah, let her be, we're not particularly looking for secrets tonight."

...

Bonnie knew it was reckless and poor planned of her to drive right to Stefan's hotel room. Once asking of his location, he sent it to her minutes. She waited for him to come out in the parking lot. He appeared before her and she, unnecessarily got out of the car to face him.

Stefan gave her one of his signature hugs that was so warm and cozy-feeling that even the beaches of South Beach couldn't compete. And just like how heat liquefies anything it touches, Bonnie melts into his arms. Her eyes shot open and she ended the hug hastily folding her arms.

Sharply, he moves her distraught face to meet his that was completely unashamed. Then he took a softer approach and caressed her face.

"Don't think," Stefan said before he leaned down and his lips grazed hers.

"We can't..." She sighed, not finishing her sentence. "Caroline might be following me and I can't risk another confrontation if she saw us-me, I would be rendered as all kinds of bad friends and I swore off of you, forever."

He looked apathetic and she rolled her eyes as she waited for him to join her. "Well?" She asked snappily.

"Here, I got something better you can ride in," He told her, tossing a key control in her direction.

Bonnie analyzed the design and looked up to see his smiling face. "You know this is one of my favorite cars, right?" Her eyes hovered around the parking lot and saw a shiny red convertible in the corner charging near the other luxury cars. He made sure that they were going to ride in style down South Beach.

* * *

In their attempt to find Elena in the heart of the city's nightlife, they were starting to head for failure. It was like the brunette just needed to remain unfounded tonight. The best possible outcome of this situation is that she took an Uber home in her drunken state and would soon wake up headaches and regret.

Sure, Bonnie should have never tipped her off in retrospect but interventions could be tough. She didn't anticipate her friend skipping it altogether and for a night of clubbing with God knows who. She's been out alone before and seemed to make it home safe but today was her birthday, so anything goes.

Stefan shadowed her, he didn't have to but he stayed behind Bonnie while she frantically looked for her vanishing friend. Several versions of "stay out of my way" had made him keep his distance but he had to make sure that she felt protected at the same time. He was almost like a bodyguard, had his state of defensiveness over the small woman not came from a personal experience.

In a frustrated fury, Bonnie put her hand on her and circled in the middle of the sidewalk. People maneuvered around her while Stefan leaned on a cement wall to cool off. Her not knowing where Elena was at that very moment sent her mind in a puzzled frenzy.

"How could you be so calm about this?" She stopped her anxious spinning to question Stefan. Her feet pointed towards his as her black heels clanking in his direction. "She could be anywhere right now all because she's acting out—avoiding her problems. Sound familiar?"

"You're over-prioritizing her right now. We've been pacing in the summer heat for the past half hour," He pointed out.

Bonnie frowned. "My best friend is missing because of something I said, of course I am going absolutely insane right now. She could be in the back of someone's truck or worse-"

Stefan grabbed her hand and guided it to her chest where her heartbeat rapidly beat. His eyes met hers, filled with great concern. Bonnie was on the brink of a breakdown but his touch did inspire some tranquility. Her lips part as their gaze becomes more intense.

Bonnie was the first to break it off, coughing like she always did. "That was-"

"Realizing that you're overthinking everything about Elena?" She gave a slight nod and slowed her walking to normal pace and took a deep breath.

"Caroline did say she sent her a text saying that she was fine and she's posted on her Instagram story already. I think we should give her space, don't you think?"

"No, Elena is desperate for attention and wants to be found, she deleted that story." Bonnie's face fell. "I checked while you were well, running up to bouncer's to show them her ID."

"What? That was like 15 minutes ago." The dark olive-skinned woman frantically began searching on social media for any signs of Elena posting. Stefan decided that going back to the car

"How do you even have her ID in the first place?" He asked while opening the driver side of the convertible for her.

"Uh, it's expired but we went to renew our driver's licenses and she wanted to throw it away but I said to keep it because of sentimental value that she didn't realize it had." Bonnie sat in the driver's seat and checked her mirrors before zooming off and continued to tell the story. "Anyways, we just thought it'd be better for me to keep it, cute story right?"

"You're a good friend,"

"I'm not," She responded firmly keeping her eyes on the road and glanced at him, smiling. "But you are for letting me drive your AM."

"Eh, so I've been promoted back to friend because of this car now?" He joked. "If I'd known that, I would have brought out the black Aventador that's collecting dust in my garage."

"I really hope you're not joking about that." Both laughed in unison.

Bonnie's phone rang in the cup holder and she picked it up and answered it. "Yo, what's up, Care?"

"Where are you guys?"

"I'm headed out of South Beach as soon as I make this right, where are you though?"

"Turns out that the bitch isn't even in there, she's in Town Square at a club called 'Thirteen' in all caps and the 'E's' are threes," Caroline informed over what seemed to be blaring music. "We just got in this one exclusive spot and Katherine is well…ranting about how we turned her birthday about finding Elena, so now we're trying to coddle her ego-Kol is with us too, by the way. I think he wanted to help and maybe see you."

"Oh, should I come b-"

Stefan took the phone from her and cut in, "Hey, Caroline, you all enjoy your night but our number one priority is finding Elena. Tell Katherine before she gets too blown that I have a gift for her and I'll see her tomorrow."

"I will, I'm so sorry you guys, bye, love you Bonnie."

"Love you more, bye!" Bonnie glared at Stefan after the the phone call ended. "You totally just intercepted that."

"I set up the GPS, we're headed to 'Thirteen'," He told her, ignoring her question that had an obvious answer.

* * *

Thanks to a random and convenient plug Klaus had at the club they were able to skip to the front of the line. Mysteriously their names were on the top of the list and it left people who'd been in the line for at least a half and hour and counting dumbfounded. Connection or not, the two would have gotten in based on their looks alone. Stefan and Bonnie made a very attractive pair.

"This is kind of rave-y," Bonnie commented, taking in the glaring neon lights and looked up and the seemingly endless ceiling. "God, are we at a rave?"

Stefan was thankful he left his jacket in the car otherwise he would stand out like a sore thumb. His black shirt didn't compliment the light though. "This used to be an office, my family owns so much real estate that I could probably teach a class on them."

"Like this club? That's really odd." Bonnie held onto him as they headed towards the bar.

"No, they sold it to whoever owns it now, but my father does own and has partial ownership of clubs around the city," He pulled a bar stool out for Bonnie and she sat down.

"So, what are you, like a secret prince or heir or whatever?"

"Princes own their Aston Martins typically and not rent them for the weekend, but I'll accept the title."

"Hi, sweetheart, what can I get for you," A red-headed bartender approached Stefan and chewed her bubblegum loudly. She looked over to see Bonnie with him. "...and the lady besides you must be your lovely girlfriend."

Bonnie corrected, " _Friend_ , I'm just his friend." You were going to keep ogling him if I was though, She thought to herself suppressing an eye roll at the woman's face washing over with relief.

"I'll take a whiskey sour, on the sweeter side if that's not a problem."

"Oh, I'll make it just how you like, pretty boy," The bartender told him seductively. She turned towards Bonnie whose eyes were glued to her phone screen. "You?"

"Seltzer, no ice."

"Alright, that'll be right out for you,"

"What was that about?" Stefan asked, amused.

"I don't know, she seemed kind of thirsty," Bonnie shrugged.

"Maybe so, but you seemed _kind_ of jealous."

Before Bonnie could reply in her usual sassy tone, the flirty bartender came back with their drinks. "Here, you go,"

Stefan took a sip of his drink and stopped the lady from walking back to the center of the bar with his voice. "I'm sorry, miss, I never got your name,"

"Oh," She twiddled with the ends of her hair. "Well, it's Sage,"

"I really needed to know the name of the woman who made this drink, Sage, because you made it just the way I like it."

Stefan propped his elbows on the table as he focused on her. Clearly, this lady cared deeply for his approval since she left her other customers for her co-worker to deal with. It made Bonnie really want to gag. She tuned them out by peering at the crowd and how they moved to bass. She wanted to step on that dance floor so badly and express her frustration throughout the whole night.

Then she spotted a brunette in a silver sequined mini dress dancing with a group of friends. It could have been Elena so impulsively she went up to the woman. When the girl faced her, she knew it was not her beloved friend.

"Ah, I'm so sorry I thought you were my friend, she has a dress just like this," She began to thread through the dance floor before the unidentified woman stopped her.

"Your friend, Elena, right? We had some weird bonding experience after, well she'll tell you, in the bathroom and switched clothes." Bonnie nodded and looked for her once more.

She put her hand over her head after 10 minutes of no success. If Stefan noticed she was gone he' be going through the crowd trying to find her and she didn't want that. Didn't want him to see she couldn't stand him flirting with someone else and that she failed to find Elena when she put them in this predicament in the first place. It seemed like God answered her prayers ironically when a voice called her name from above.

"Bonnie! Bonnie! I'm right here," She heard Elena say, who was clad in a mini skirt and tube top on the balcony.

"Elena, oh my God, we've been looking for you all night, please come down here."

"Are you sure?" The brunette giggled. "It's so fun up here and you came this far to see me, what's a few more feet?"

Bonnie knew she had a point and soon found herself running up a flight upstairs. They hugged and she expected her friend to smell like a distillery but she didn't. She didn't smell like cannabis either. There was a slight possibility that she was sober.

"I told Care I was fine earlier and I am. I was having a really bad day, stumbled in a few clubs but this is the one where I had the best experience," Elena said happily.

"What did you do?" Her tone was a little too happy for Bonnie's ears.

"I took a teeny, weenie pill in the bathroom an hour ago," The brunette revealed in a low, child-like voice.

"What would that be?"

Elena looked around before whispering in Bonnie's ear. "Molly."

"Molly?! Are you crazy, you're a nurse! They can drug test you randomly, this isn't worth losing your career over," Bonnie exclaimed.

"Shh, you're too loud, you think too much, I took some personal time off, so bye-bye random drug testing. This shit doesn't stay in your system that long anyway."

"So, how does this episode end?" Bonnie asked, with her arms crossed.

"It ends with you and I dancing until the sun rises, c'mon,"

Elena grabbed her reluctant friend's hand dragged her to the dancefloor and danced circles around her. She did the silliest dance moves to make Bonnie smile and then laugh. Still, she was very anxious about her friend's state of mind.

"It's just a little party drug, Bonnie." The woman still looked unconvinced. "Okay, today will be the last day I ever take it again and it stays between us, okay?"

Bonnie nodded. "Okay."

"Okay, dance with me," Elena started stepping towards Bonnie in some shuffle. Finally, Bonnie loosened up and reciprocated her moves in a semi-good mood again. A slower song came on and Elena cupped the shorter woman's face.

"You're the only person on Earth I want to spend my birthday with, I'm so glad you came."

'I am too,"

 _Then I realized she's right there_

 _And I'm at home like, "Damn, this ain't fair"_

 _Break up with your girlfriend_

 _Yeah, yeah, 'cause I'm bored_

"Ooh, I love this song," Elena stated while deciphering the beat and the perfect time to dip it low. She was dangerously face to face with Bonnie as their innocent, fun shuffling turned in two heated bodies grinding like everyone else on the platform. Elena moved up and down on Bonnie's leg before staying in a squat position on the floor and squeezed her tit. She bit her lip to stifle a moan, not that anyone heard over the music anyway.

The brunette climbed back up and embraced Bonnie, dipping her chin on her shoulder. "We can only give them a fantasy, the real thing will come soon. Wait on it." Bonnie turned around and rolled her backside against Elena's crotch. She jumped slightly when felt it being rubbed, she wasn't expecting her to admire it that much.

"Sorry, I'd kill to have your ass," The brunette revealed. "Have I told you, you're the hottest person here?"

 _Break up with your girlfriend (With your girlfriend)_

 _Yeah, yeah, 'cause I'm bored_

 _You can hit in the morning' (Hit in the mornin', yeah, yeah, yeah)_

 _Yeah, yeah, like it's yours_

 _I know it ain't right_

 _But I don't care (Care, yeah)_

 _Break up with your girlfriend (With your girlfriend,)_

 _Yeah, yeah, 'cause I'm bored_

"Is there another girl you find sexually attractive in the whole world other than me?" Bonnie inquired curiously as she bent forward to shake one of the few things her mom gifted her with.

"Right now, it's only you, Bennett."

Bonnie smiled and started to strut away before Elena pulled her back in, making her feel more desirable than ever.

 _Girlfriend, girlfriend, girlfriend..._

* * *

Stefan stayed in the car as the club raged on for the next hour and a half. After talking to Sage at the bar, he realized that Bonnie left presumably in a jealous fury. But when he found her, he saw that she was having her own fun with Elena. Truthfully, the two of them gyrating and groping each other made him harder than a brick and the fallout of that was him relieving his erection in a pissy bathroom stall.

Bonnie: Meet inside club me n Lena too drunk happy 2 walk 2 AM

Stefan entered the club with the intent of escorting two drunken women out. He had one on each arm as they chuckled and held onto him for dear life.

"Excuse me, sir, do you know these two women?" A security guard called out. "Ladies, you had just paid a $400 tab, the least we can do is call you an Uber home."

"Know this man?" Bonnie asked, offended almost. "He's my hero," She finished dreamily, leaning on his shoulder.

"We used to date," Elena said bluntly.

The security guard looked completely baffled but gave them the OK signal and Stefan nodded.

"We are so talking about this tomorrow," He said as he opened their door and Elena fit in the backseat, stretching her legs out. Bonnie got in the front.

"I got to drive today," Bonnie bragged, in a sing-song voice as they were on the road.

"Yeah, and never again," Stefan added.

Elena got up to hug the back of the driver's seat and raked her hands along his chest. " _Mmm_ , I missed you, daddy," She purred lowly in his ear. "Where are you taking me?"

"To my hotel suite."

"Ooh, what do you have planned for me?" Her hands grazed his biceps.

"First, I'm going to pick you up, throw you in bed, take off those heels because I know your feet hurt, and then-"

"Then what, you watch me strip down and get myself off again-"

"No, watch your fucking mouth, matter of fact lie down, I told you not to discuss that," He ordered.

"But Stefan," She whined but it fell on deaf ears since he kept driving. Left to her own devices she mumbled and soon fell asleep.

Bonnie couldn't stop laughing and saw that his face turned to a beet red as Elena spoke freely of their bedroom adventure. She was her best friend, so of course she knew bits and pieces of that particular story.

"She gets really horny when she's drunk sometimes, I could have sworn she was scared to face you a month ago," The semi-drunken woman said honestly. She gauged his stoic expression as he watched the road.

"Stefan," She reached out to him. "Don't tell me you're upset about that, it's just the three of us in here, it stays between us."

"I could care less about that, I was just making a point. What I'm upset about is you enabling Elena by getting drunk with her when you know she wasn't supposed to be there in the first place," He told her, disappointment laced in his voice.

"What?" Bonnie choked out. "I will take blame for tipping her off about today but I'm not an enabler, that's the last thing I will ever be."

"Sure you aren't, you just think you're being a good friend, and you are a good friend to her but it gets conflated with thinking you're doing her a favor by excusing her shitty behavior."

Bonnie began hyperventilating and squeezing her hands. "My mother is a recovering addict, Stefan. I can't be an enabler, I used to pray over and over again that she would choose me, me, her own fucking daughter over men and drugs," She wept and mascara stained her cheeks but she didn't even care because she's wanted to say these exact words to Abby her whole life.

"She can't get the thing she wants right off the bat so she has to seduce some man to get it, she had boyfriends all the time and I didn't get it until my Grams told her to stop bringing them around."

"Damn it, I didn't know that. I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you cry, please forgive me, baby, I don't want to see you cry." Stefan tried to placate her by squeezing her hand.

"No, these are happy tears," Bonnie shook her head as more tears fell from her eyes. Her throat her, she really fucking hated cries like this. She took a deep breath and composed herself.

"I have to tell you something that happened tonight and you have to promise not to get mad."

"What is it?" There was no promise on his end.

"Elena took ecstasy, tonight," She revealed. "It was before I even got there, it was already in her system."

"You have to be fucking kidding me…" He did a steep U-turn. "We just passed a Wal-Mart by, that shit needs to leave her system."

The woman almost broke out in tears again. "I know you just got mad at me all over again but-"

"Just check her purse, if she said it was a one-time thing then we detox her and that's the end of that but if she said that and bought then she used her credibility with you to support a new habit," Stefan told her as she grabbed Elena's purse.

"Oh, my God," Bonnie shrieked in horror as she held a bag of MDMA in her hand. She couldn't handle this and began hysterically screaming. Her mom being hooked on drugs was beyond her control but the fact that her best friend could be now and she had no one to blame was herself.

* * *

 **A/N: I intentionally wanted a Valentine's Day update but oh well, the last 2500 words were completely free styled and ironically the strongest part of the story. Also, 'break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored' by Ariana Grande inspired this fic so much lmaoo so I had to use it.**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: We Need A Resolution

* * *

 _Bonnie picked up the unknown pills off the bedroom floor. She was going through her mother's purse so she could get a dollar to buy some ice cream like the other kids on her block were. Accidentally, she stumbled upon some white pills and was curious to see if they were anything like the sleeping pills her grandmother took before bed._

 _Abby came in the room to see her young daughter scrambling on the floor with her supplies and almost lost it._

 _"What the hell are you doing? Get off my shit!" She hissed, pushing the girl away._

 _Bonnie's face was red as she breathed in and out watching her mom pick up all the pills hurriedly._

 _"I-I'm sorry, mommy, it-it won't happen again," She sniffed._

 _"It better not," Abby approached her, pointing in her face. "And you better not tell Ma what you just saw or I'm going to go away, again."_

 _"But I don't want you to leave again!" Bonnie cried out, hugging onto her mother's leg and wailed loudly. A hand tugged at her pigtail and screeched out in pain._

 _"Shut up, Bonnie!"_

* * *

Elena came up to Bonnie with a wet towel and a bottle of water. She pressed the woman's forehead that was beading with sweat across it. Her body temperature was through the roof.

"You need to get your fluids up," The brunette informed her as she drunk. "Plus, you have a slight fever, you might be at 100."

"Did I...did I scream last night?"

"Yeah, you were screaming out for Abby, but hey don't worry about it, it was just a bad dream or memory."

"No, I screamed last night in the car..." Bonnie looked at Elena who had a confused expression on her face. "You know what, forget it."

"Okay, um Stefan's got us some breakfast so he's cooking right now."

Bonnie fiddled with her thumbs. "Oh, does everyone else know where we are?"

The nurse reached across her and cupped her face. "Does everyone else even matter to you?"

No.

"Yes, they do matter and we should still have this group meeting."

Elena dropped her hand. "Ugh, you're no fun."

Bonnie took several bites of the decadent french toast she was eating. It had slices of banana and strawberries on it with scissored syrup that covered the whole plate. She'd eat the plate whole if it was possible.

"What?" She asked, uneasy that Elena was looking at her with more interest than the plate in front of her.

Elena smirked and invaded her space by using her thumb to wipe off the sticky substance on Bonnie's space. "You had a little something on your face."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "It's syrup, all you're doing is spreading it trying to be cute."

"Oh, i'm sorry." A hand grazed and squeezed her left thigh. "Would you like me to lick it off?"

Bonnie parted her lips in contemplation at the idea. It lingered in her mind longer than it should have before saying her eventual no. Elena groaned in irritation before backing up out of her space.

"Boo. You're no fun, again."

The woman slid off of her chair to wash her clean plate in the sink. After she was done, she leaned against the counter and crossed her arms.

"None of this fun or funny, you went too far last night."

"Define 'too far' for me, please." Elena challenged.

Stefan walked towards her causing her to turn around to face him.

"I will, the club hopping, the drinking, this too," He rambled, holding the same plastic bag from her purse.

"That's not mine," Elena denied, shrugging carelessly and walked past him.

He caught her arm. Nice try. It was in your bag," He replied.

The accused brunette looked at Bonnie who nervously put her hand behind her neck. It was obvious that she hadn't held up her end of the secret.

"I can't believe you right now, Bonnie."

"I-"

Elena broke away from Stefan and approached her longtime friend with earnest eyes.

"I wouldn't take those pills for no reason, you know how bad I needed them last night," She sighed sadly. "I mean my very own best friend was trying to have. an intervention for me."

Stefan laughed dryly at her explanation. "You actually have convinced yourself that what you're doing is justified."

She whipped her head around to face him and sneered, "I'm sick of you coming in between me and my friend's relationship."

"No, you're gaslighting her, how does one pill turn into this?" He held it up for her to see again.

"I'm aware of the stupid bag, Stefan! And it isn't even mine, I'm holding it for someone."

"Oh, okay. I guess a nursing degree for a low-level drug pusher is a fair trade in your book," He taunted.

"Fuck you, I'm out of here."

"Wait, where are you going?" Bonnie inquired, finally speaking.

"To prepare for my intervention at 5," Elena turned to them. "But maybe you two can screw in the meantime."

"Elena, I didn't mean—"

But she slammed the door already, proving that she didn't care enough to hear her reply.

* * *

The six of them in Caroline's living room were tense, to say the least. Bonnie wanted her blonde friend to start intervening. Prying was her specialty.

"You put us through hell yesterday," Caroline started and stood up. "I mean the cryptic Instagram post and deletes were making my nerves go on overload."

"Alright, love please sit now, I'm begging you." Klaus sighed and guided her back to her seat.

"Care, I wasn't trying to stress anyone out here— contrary to popular belief." She looked at Stefan. "I just, I'm 25, okay and just want to live life without any negative opinions."

"Gee, Elena, me expressing concern for you is me being negative or judgmental."

"Hmm, maybe the negative part was a reach but you are judgmental, though," The caregiver replied casually.

Caroline's face contorted in disbelief. "I am not judgmental, you guys am I judgmental?"

She got a slew of answers that were silently agreeing with Elena's statement. Her mouth was wide open in shock as she looked around the room. Her being critical must have been a habit that went unnoticed until now.

"Oh my God, I'm totally judgmental," Caroline cried out. An eye roll quickly came from Elena's direction.

"Within reason, sweetheart, within reason," Her fiancé placated while rubbing her thumb in her lap.

"Yeah within reason of you potentially shooting heroin up in some club bathroom!" Katherine spoke up.

"Please. You're being dramatic."

"How can you be so glib about this?" Caroline inquired, annoyed at her apathetic demeanor.

"You're right, let's start this off again." Both her sister and friend straightened up for an apology.

"I would have never known about this little meeting you were planning if it wasn't for Bonnie," She spat, looking directly at the perpetrator.

"What?"

Elena rolled her eyes. "I cannot believe that you all would think she would choose your secret plan to confront me over our friendship. Common sense is an obvious factor here."

"C'mon, don't be like that...," Bonnie said, weakly.

"It is true, though," Caroline agreed, turning to face Bonnie with crossed arms. "You haven't even taken any responsibility for this!"

"Caroline," Klaus clenched through his teeth but it fell on deaf ears.

"I am really sick of your behavior," She directed towards Elena but flipped around quickly to Bonnie. "And you knew that—you promised not to tell and you did anyway!"

"I-I'm sorry, I guess I didn't see it that way, how I messed up everything." Bonnie sighed.

Elena smirked and caught the distraught woman's gaze and subsequently lost it, leaving her more puzzled than ever. All this blame-shifting was going to make her sick.

"Hey, you, me, in the bathroom, now," Stefan told Elena, and she reluctantly rose from her seat with a playful eye roll.

A couple of minutes passed while they were in there and Bonnie's leg couldn't stop twitching. She really wanted to know what was taking them so long because it was really distracting.

"If they aren't out in the next five minutes, they're definitely screwing," Katherine said through her teeth as the seconds went on.

"Don't be silly," Klaus replied.

"Six, almost seven months is a _long_ tine, the reunion just doesn't stop at a glance. Just saying." She eyed Bonnie's non-expression. "What do you think?"

"They—Stefan isn't like that, so I think entertaining that theory is pointless."

Katherine just smiled while Bonnie rolled her eyes. She didn't understand the woman's motive since this meeting was supposed to be positive and growing. Her energy was sinister and Katherine-like as usual.

Finally, Elena emerged from the bathroom with Stefan behind her. She looked modest as she came out with her hands crossed. Her eye contact with Bonnie was the most sincere. It was her non-verbal way of saying that she was sorry. Everyone was oblivious to their language.

"So, I just want to say that I'm sorry to everyone and that I am ready to face some real questions and give some truths out."

Caroline sighed. "Just take a seat and we'll start this all over. I'll even forget last night even happened for the sake of everything."

Knowing that, Bonnie made a silent sigh of relief. The pressure was too much for her to handle to be blamed for another person's actions. She wasn't owed one, but hoped for an apology from Caroline after today.

"The reason why I have been so distant and spiraling lately is because I am struggling with something that I have finally come to terms with," Elena half-revealed while everyone anticipated her confession.

"I am a lover of people—take that as you will and I don't want to hide or make everyone else suffer because I wasn't ready to admit it."

"I've known you my entire life and you're not gay. Now that's ridiculous," Katherine intervened.

"I think the term is bisexual."

Klaus grabbed Caroline's hand and squeezed it. "Me and Caroline are fine with it, right love?"

"It stunned me at first but overall, I'm okay with it and I love you either way. Just don't push us out anymore."

"I have no issue with it, either. None of us should," Bonnie said, and everyone nodded.

"I guess there _could_ be a possibility of my twin being gay—bi." Katherine turned to face Elena. "It was the last thing on my mind which made it so unbelievable for me."

"I don't want anymore secrets between us which is why I have planned a trip to Hawaii where we lay everything bare," Elena announced cheerfully.

"When is it?" Caroline inquired, nervously shaking her leg.

"Um, end of August. Why?"

"This is not what I wanted to happen, Elena but we, the four of us have already decided to take a trip to London."

Elena's smile cracked. "You four decided to take a trip without me?"

"It wasn't to exclude you...it was just that we thought you wouldn't be interested because it's a pseudo-couples trip," Caroline stated, unsure of how to approach the question.

"Honestly, it was. Me and my brothers take a trip back to our hometown every year for our mother's birthday. Having Caroline meet her face-to-face was just a matter of striking two things at once." Klaus further added, trying to soften the blow.

"Katherine and Bonnie aren't in a relationship with your brothers, though, so you guys can go with me, right?"

"I've already said yes!" Katherine exclaimed. "Elijah says he can show me his city better than he can tell me and I want to see him live up to that."

"Really Kat?"

"Hey, I deserve that what he's offered to do for me, I deserve love and devotion like everyone else in this room," The woman reiterated.

"Fine, you're right." Elena sighed and remembered she was in Caroline's dining room. She could have been painted as the scorned single person when they planned the trip without her. Was the trip so obsolete to Bonnie that she forgot to even mention it?

"E, we can still take the Hawaii trip, I just need a different time," Caroline proposed.

"No, I don't want a different time, I want the end of August so I'll just go alone."

There it was, her stubborness filling the room and Bonnie pursed her lips as her friend spoke but decided not to. She didn't want to be the first and only person to be caught in Elena's web. Not again and not anymore.

"Despite what you and I have been through, I don't want you to feel alone." Stefan said sincerely. "So, I'll go with you."

"Please," The brunette scoffed. "Like you'd get a week off of work for me."

"I would and I am. I just texted my boss and he's going to make sure those days get approved."

Elena took another deep sigh, one that was reminiscent of relief but not quite. "Wow, I don't even know what to say. Thank you."

"Aw, it all worked out," Caroline squealed. "I say we do a group hug."

Everyone had their respective groans at the idea of a hug. It wasn't until the bubbly blonde herself made all her guests and her fiancé rise up for a bundled embrace. Even with the clear division set, it seemed like there could be room for growth.

* * *

 **SEVERAL WEEKS LATER**

Bonnie and Elena were both coincidentally packing for both of their trips. Elena was selecting light and bright clothes for her trip while Bonnie was packing the latter since it would be some humid rain in London.

"You know, my offer still stands, if you can't stand the rain," Elena jokes, grabbing a pair of sandals to stuff in her luggage.

"I have 20 pounds of England-like clothes and I'm too lazy to re-shelve that so I can chase you to Hawaii, Ms. Gilbert."

They both laughed, their interaction and banter was natural.

"So, how are you feeling since that night?"

"Ah," The brunette began zipping her suitcase shut, loudly. _"That_ night. Are you talking about the grinding or my confession to doing X right before it?"

Bonnie closed her eyes. "The drugs, Elena," She spoke in a low voice. "I don't know if you are yearning for some more of it or even something stronger through our casual texts."

"I can't say I haven't felt the lows but I have not went out and got more." Elena used her pointer finger to circle her hip bone. "Making you that upset is something you used to do when Abby screwed up time and time again."

"Stefan had to tell you right? I mean I was kind of upset about it but I'm glad you aren't doing it anymore."

"No, don't try to downplay it, I acted horribly that night and he said you were rightfully hysterical when you two saw the baggie I had." She scratched the back of her head. "It was a dumb mistake and won't happen again."

Bonnie exhaled. "I hope you two enjoy your week together."

"And I hope you enjoy yours, but seriously - the offer still stands." Elena reminded her.

"Okay, I know and I'll consider it, I swear."

"Re-think it to the last minute, I don't care if you have to cut ties with your precious Kol the day of the flight," Elena jokes.

"I'll keep that in mind..."

"Wait, you know that I love you, right?" Elena breathed silently in anticipation. She sounded needy but she didn't know where their respective trips would leave their friendship. All she wanted to make sure that the 'now' was positive.

"I love you too, have a safe trip,"

Bonnie let a sigh escape her lips as she ended the call and sunk to her knees.

...

The dancer smiled weakly as she laid on Kol's shoulder as the plane prepared to take off. He did say things and stroke her thumbs every now and then to keep her mind at ease. She, however, reflected on her goodbyes to her family, her home, her dance class, and Elena. Her guilt for not choosing her subsided since Stefan was accompanying her. He was a face that she did not wish farewell to and it was eating her up on the inside.

"Passengers, we are now preparing for take off," The intercom informed. "Please be seated accordingly."

"Babe, you ready for your eardrums to temporarily burst?"

Bonnie nodded quickly as she was brought back to reality.

"Yeah, but I get really emotional during,"

Kol smiled. "You're in good hands, I promise."

Even though she mentally prepared herself for the air pressure, tears fell from eyes down her cheeks. She kept stating that she was fine and she was truly the effects of the plane being in the air hadn't affected her that much. It was that plane elevating that rendered her so breathless at the moment. It symbolized the end of her relationship with Elena and that was enough to almost push her on the edge of hysterics.

* * *

 **A/N: Final chapter is the next update.**


End file.
